Jet clearly has a large marketing budget. In addition to
being exposed to NYC-centric TV commercials and subway billboards, I received
three mail pieces from the company. This blog post is about the third one.
This multi-fold self-mailer arrived at my home on
Saturday, November 24. While the front cover thematic is about giving gifts …
… the thematic on the first fold-out is about Thanksgiving Dinner …
…and the last inside panel has a capture that reads, “Can’t wait for Black Friday? Preview our top deals at Jet.com/BlackFriday.”
That makes this a Fail for Timing because it arrived after Black
Friday.
Timing mail arrival when mailing Standard Rate is not
easy. Based on the postage indicia on the address panel,
I know it mailed from Chicago. This was likely a saturation mailing that
was drop shipped to the local post office—presumably on an SCF level. That not only reduces postage expenses but also helps with speed of
delivery to the recipient’s address. But, even then, the local post office does
not have any obligation related to speedy delivery.
During the holiday season, postal volume spikes. On the day
I received the Jet.com self-mailer, for example, in addition to normal
marketing and personal mail, I received five catalogs and two other
holiday-related marketing self-mailers. Jet may have attempted precise timing
but was a couple postal days late. Perhaps they should consider mailing early—even
if they are mailing often.
Lesson:
When timing the arrival of your mail, do it carefully. Consider
the normal time delivery, then add extra time if mailing between mid-November
and late December.