Direct mail’s role as a driver of online sales is increasingly important according to the latest quarterly figures from JicMail.
The organisation, which measures and tracks the role that direct mail, partially addressed mail and door drops play in the marketing mix, says that print is scoring at record levels on all measures.
It says that printed mail is on its way to becoming a “super touchpoint” channel, combining physical engagement with increasingly powerful digital outcomes. Thus in Q1 the equivalent click through rate to a website from a printed item stood at 9.4% (8.7% for Q1 2025). It doesn’t record whether this was due to the use of QR codes or whether the interaction came from a phone or laptop.
This continues the growth that has been experienced through 2025. The first findings from JicMail’s Response Rate tracker for the year show increasing response rates from both warm and cool prospects and the strong ROI for both.
The tracker report examines 5,000 different campaigns assessing the differences in response ROI, cost per acquisition and average order value when using the mail channel. Partially addressed mail was included alongside warm and cool retail direct mail and door drops for the first time.
JicMail engagement director Mark Cross says: “These latest results together with our new geo planning tool and latest response rate tracker, bring to life the unrivalled quality of engagement and effectiveness from mail. A richness not available elsewhere, such as with an outstanding average of 229 seconds spent with catalogues; the highest attention levels to direct mail in the UK revealed in Oxford and Cambridge; recycle rates at a hugely impressive 89% and with year on year maintenance of £12+ ROI for retailers from warm mail and decreasing cost per acquisition from cold.”
In Q1 the positive trends have continued. According to JicMail, 56% of all purchases driven by mail were fulfilled online in the first three months of the year, a demonstration of how print drives omni channel consumer journeys and a record response. This is up on the 53% recorded for Q1 last year.
The figures also show how mail has a greater reach than a single digital ad. There are 4.5 interactions for items, reaching 1.14 people, over 7.8 days and amounting to 141 seconds of attention for a conventional direct mail piece. Business mail will receive 182 seconds of attention while door drops, as the poorest performer, still earn 57 seconds of attraction being picked up an looked at three times over the course of 5.8 days.
