Direct Mail Services
Market, Supplier, Risk and
Competitive Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

Global Direct Mail Services –Industry Outlook

• The global direct mail market was valued at $92–94 billion in 2019
• The market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 1–2 percent to reach $96–98 billion by 2021
• Regions, such as North America, Western Europe and Northern APAC have high market maturity. Until 2022, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 0.4–0.7 percent in North America and Western Europe due to an increase in spending on digital marketing
• The future growth of the industry would be driven by parts of the APAC, the MEA and LATAM, owing to low Internet penetration and a high customer base. Australia is one the markets in APAC which has decent growth potential in direct mail industry.

Global Direct Mail Market Maturity

• Direct mail adoption is high in developed continents, such as North America and Europe. This is because of rich customer databases maintained over a period of time. However, increased adoption of e-mail and mobile advertising is diminishing the demand for direct mail advertising
• Central and southern parts of APAC, LATAM and the MEA are driving the direct mail market because of low Internet penetration, as compared to developed markets. BFSI, retail, travel and real estate are the major industries that drive demand

Industry Trends

• Direct mail service providers expand their service portfolios by providing online direct marketing services in order to retain their clients
• An increased number of M&As in developed continents, such as North America and Europe, is posing a serious threat to new entrants
• Increased usage of digital printing machines has made printing less labor-intensive, resulting in layoffs, in order to maintain profit

Global Direct Mail Drivers and Constraints

To counter the effect of digitization, direct mail service providers add cross-channel marketing services, such as e-mail marketing, including QR codes in direct mail and clean mailing lists, to retain their clients. However, retail, BFSI, travel and real estate industries sustain demand

Drivers

Integration with digital marketing 

• Suppliers in the market compete with each other in their initiatives to integrate online marketing with direct mail marketing. Some initiatives include:

−Inclusion of QR codes in direct mail
−Providing e-mail marketing and other direct marketing services to their clients at competitive rices
−Helping the buyers consolidate their spending to a single service provider 

• In 2018, Quad/Graphics has increased its equity position with Rise Interactive and also acquired a majority ownership stake with the award-winning digital marketing agency . Rise Interactive, an award winning digital marketing agency in order to integrate traditional medium of communication with online mediums. This partnership would help the marketers to make more informed decision by having enhanced consumer behavior details

Potential industry sectors

• The demand for direct mail services is driven by retail, financial services and insurance, travel and real estate industries. Demand for flyers, coupons, samples and merchandise items by these industries is a key driver of the industry

Constraints

Increase in substitutes 

• With the increase in digitization, substitute channels, such as e-mail and mobile marketing, gain adoption over direct mail
• Retail inserts and contact centres affect the demand for direct mail

 Quality of mailing lists

• The mail database in emerging economies, such as LATAM, APAC and the MEA, is of low accuracy, leading to ineffectiveness of direct mail campaigns in reaching their full potential

Market Overview

•  According to direct mail industry trends, the declining nature of the direct mail industry, lack of business, underutilized capacities and fragmented supplier base provide higher bargaining power to the buyers.
•  Direct mail analysis shows that services bundling opportunities with major commercial printers, coupled with the competitive pricing environment, helps the buyers choose the best providers.
•  Major cost components involve paper and postage costs.
•  Increased threat from digital substitutes forces the service providers to provide end-to-end services at competitive prices.
•  Increase in shift of data consumption pattern of end-users from paper to electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops and mobiles, has forced marketers to cut direct marketing trends budgets from direct mail and increase their e-mail and mobile advertising.

Why You Should Buy This Report

The report gives information on the direct mail market size, maturity, direct mail industry trends, and lists out the industry drivers and constraints. It gives the regional outlook and direct mail trends in the North America, Europe, MEA, and APAC regions. This direct mail analysis report provides the Porter’s five force analysis of the global direct mail market and gives profiles of key suppliers like RR Donnelley, HH Global, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., etc. It details the cost structure breakdown, sourcing models, pricing models and direct marketing trends.