We love the USPS as we would a sibling caught in an abusive relationship. It keeps coming up with new ways to better its fortunes, but until it can find a way to tear itself away from the government, we know things are never really going to improve. The latest scheme: including scannable codes on direct mail. Really.
Here’s the MediaPost writeup:
“In the proposed system, direct mail recipients would be able to use their smartphones to scan a code or symbol — such as a QR code, image recognition code, or “intelligent mail” barcode — to access a feedback form or other response mechanism, with coupons or other rewards offered as an incentive.”
This idea is apparently one floated in a new report from the USPS Office of the Inspector General. That many companies are already doing this without the post office’s help doesn’t seem to phase them, nor does the fact that there’s really no money in it.
Of course in the last few years the postal service has been throwing every moneymaking idea it can think of into the hopper in a desperate attempt to stave off complete economic collapse…like heaving every stick of furniture off the decks of the Titanic in hopes of avoiding the iceberg.
