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Authors:
James Watson, Jr., PhD (Doculabs) and C. Ranganathan, PhD, (University of Illinois, Chicago)
Type of Promotional Material/Activity Tested:
Transactional service mailings (e.g., statements, bills) and marketing communications (e.g., solicitations, promotional campaigns, and response marketing).
Sample Population:
Members, customers, and/or subscribers of EDSF, Xplor International, AIIM, OutputLinks, and Doculabs were solicited via e-mail for participation in this study with 109 valid responses tabulated. Survey results were from buy-side only firms (organizations such as banks and insurance companies that use paper and electronic communications to support their primary business). No suppliers or print-for-pay providers were surveyed.
Over 50% of respondents represent the financial services, banking, and insurance sectors. Respondents also represent companies with considerable print and mail expense (30% expect to generate and mail more than 100 million pieces their clients and customers). Six out of ten firms have annual revenues in excess of $1 billion.
Methodology:
Online survey conducted in the first quarter of 2008
Metrics:
Trends in communications with consumers: changes in overall budgets for document communications, document delivery format, and the use of digital color.
Top Line Results:
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The largest portion of respondents, over 40%, said document communications budgets for paper-based communications in 2008 would be flat. Those expecting a slight increase outnumbered those expecting a slight decrease by 2 to 1.
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When asked about the use of electronic document delivery in 2008, the largest portion of respondents (over 40%) expected a 5-10% increase in their use of electronic document delivery. This is similar to past survey results, indicating a slow, steady growth in the electronic document delivery of transpromotional and marketing communications.
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The proportion of print documents also made available to customers electronically:
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Nearly 30% of firms indicated it was “approaching one-third”
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Close to 25% reported “approximately 50% or above”
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Nearly 20% reported “nearly all”
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Fifteen percent of respondents expected to deliver 50% or more of their documents exclusively in electronic format in 2008. In years past, this percentage was in the single digits (e.g., 8% in 2007). Small and mid-sized firms (companies that print and mail less than 50 million pieces annually) lead the way in using electronic document communications exclusively.
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Regulatory compliance, privacy, and security remain key issues inhibiting electronic document communications. Customers’ ability and willingness to accept electronic documents has dropped from the #1 issue in 2005 to #5 in 2008.
| Key Inhibitors for E-Document Communications |
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
| Legal compliance and regulatory requirements |
2
|
1
|
1
|
| Security and privacy-related issues |
1
|
2
|
2
|
| Technology issues (e.g. Infrastructure, integration, etc.) |
4
|
4
|
3
|
| Company mindset and culture |
6
|
6
|
4
|
| Customers not prepared to accept electronic documents |
3
|
3
|
5
|
| Costs in relations to benefits |
5
|
5
|
6
|
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In 2007, there was a spike in the number of companies using financial incentives to motivate customers to switch to e-documents. In 2008, firms planned to use a mix of tactics (advertising campaigns, value-added online features, additional products/services, and lastly, financial incentives) to entice customers to make the switch.
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Companies state they have not realized significant cost savings when reducing their use of print in favor of electronic delivery -- over 40% of firms expected reductions in print costs to be very little (less than 10%). Small and midsize companies have been the most successful in garnering cost savings.
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Little projected growth in digital color print use expected in 2008. The largest group reporting (close to 45%) indicated they expected to use digital color in less that 1% of their documents. Looking at company size and use of digital color, there is a greater use of digital color among small and mid-sized firms, with approximately 15% expecting to use digital color in more that 10% of their documents.
Take Away:
This is the fifth year of EDSF’s ongoing research program to identify trends in the document communications industry. From the Outlook portion of the study, EDSF states: “While the 2008 study suggests that firms are being more conservative in making any changes to their document communications strategies, we still expect that with a stronger economy and further improvements in the technology, the trends we have noted in this year’s study will accelerate in the coming years.”
Complexity rating: 1
(Complex statistical analysis scale: 1= none, 2= moderate, 3 = difficult)
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