Modern’s Postal Analytics

Contrary to popular belief, postage is not a set price – it is actually based on the amount of work the USPS does for your mailing. One of our ongoing company goals is to identify areas where we can add value to our clients’ orders. So, given that we have a close partnership with the USPS, we work to find the best options that help us lower postage prices for our clients. After months of research and process development, we launched our Postal Analytics program. The focus of this program is to identify areas where Modern can remove USPS touch points to earn discounts on postage that we pass along to you.

As a part of this service, every order we mail is analyzed to determine a best-fit postal solution based on your mailing list, order quantity, postage type and card size. There are no extra fees for this analysis since it helps us to reach our goal in providing you the best service available.

Trust our experts to navigate the sea of USPS options for you. Once we identify a best-fit solution, we’ll automatically apply it to your order, and nothing is needed from you. But if you want more information about these areas of savings, please read on!

DPV/CASS Certification

DPV (Delivery Point Verification) and CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) are the systems the USPS uses to define the deliverability of a particular address. The CASS system will define that a range of addresses that the particular address falls into is accurate (100-500 Main Street for example). DPV then will determine if that particular address (365 Main Street) is a valid, mailable address. Addresses that pass DPV/CASS are available for postage discounts because the deliverability can be automated by the USPS. Those that don’t, “single pieces,” will pay a higher postage rate because the USPS is unable to determine the accuracy of the mailing addresses, leaving it up to the individual carrier to get the piece there – if it can be delivered at all.

NCOA-48 processing

NCOALink® service takes your mailing list and compares it to the USPS database of registered moves for the past 4 years (48 months). If this service finds any moves, it will apply them back to your mailing and we will also send you back a list of these moves so you can update your house database. Please click here for more information about the USPS policy regarding moves and updated addresses, as well as how we help you achieve maximum deliverability.

Drop Shipping Analysis

Drop shipping is a form of “work sharing” with the USPS in which the mailer delivers the mail at their expense to a postal facility closer to the destination. The further downstream the mail is entered into the mail system by the mailer, the greater the postage discount. This is accomplished by shipping the mail through the use of common carrier transportation. Not all mailings qualify for drop shipping. We only take advantage of this method when the postal discounts you would receive are greater than the shipping costs. Drop shipping applies to standard mail only.

Co-Mail Analysis

Co-Mail is also a form of work sharing with the USPS. While traditional mailings begin getting sorted and routed once they are delivered to your local post office, this service allows us to remove some burden off of the USPS by mingling your cards with other cards headed to similar destinations. Then, we can ship the bulk of cards closer to their end location to be dropped in the mail stream. Removing multiple touch points from the USPS gains us discounts which we then pass along to you. Not all mailings qualify for co-mail, but all mailings are analyzed to see if this service would save you time, money or both when compared to traditional mail methods.

Priority Mail Open & Distribute (PMOD)

PMOD is a cost efficient way to drop ship smaller mailings in order to achieve the same postal discounts as larger drop shipping methods. Instead of the traditional over-the-road transportation methods, PMOD uses USPS Priority Mail to transport these smaller mailings to the destination NDC or SCF. USPS Priority Mail has a 1-3 day delivery service standard which also makes this method a good option for time sensitive marketing campaigns.