Small Business Welcomes PC Postage

Just a few months after its approval by the US Postal Service, US small businesses and home offices spent more than $8 million on PC postage, according to International Data Corp (IDC).

By the year 2000, the annual spending by small businesses and home offices will approach $300 million, and by 2001 it will surpass $600 million. Despite the fact home businesses outnumber US small businesses, IDC expects small businesses will be responsible for the lion’s share of PC postage spending because the number of small businesses moving to PC postage and the average spending per company will be greater than that of home-based businesses.

IDC estimates small businesses alone will spend $212 million on PC postage in 2000, accounting for almost 3 percent of their total first-class spending. Additionally, they will spend more on PC postage for overnight express mail, second-day, and parcel-post packages.

With PC postage, customers print a USPS-approved barcode with postage and address information using their own printers, ink, and labels or envelopes. Depending on what solution they choose, customers can download and print postage while they are online or they can download ahead of time. According to IDC, 9.5 percent of small business PC owners are very interested in PC postage, and exceptional interest level for a new product category.

According to Raymond Boggs, VP of IDC’s Small Business and Home Office research program, believes the convenience in printing postage is only part of the technology’s appeal.

“PC postage brings the SOHO mailroom into the 21st century from the 19th century,” Boggs said. “Managing mail lists, targeting prospects, and delivering material effectively can all be done by the smallest firms.”