Post Offices ‘Abuzz’ Over Protect Pollinators Forever Stamps

Sales of print book got off to a slow holiday season start as units fell 3% in the Thanksgiving week ended November 26, compared to the comparable week in 2016, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Units fell 9% in the mass merchandiser channel compared to last year, while sales to retailers and clubs slipped 1%. The top-selling title in the week was Jeff Kinney’s newest Wimpy Kid book, The Getaway, which sold over 139,000 copies. A new release, Pete the Cat, by James Dean was in second place with over 104,000 copies sold. Four “5 Minute” Disney books also had a strong first week of sales with 5 Minute Disney Snuggle Stories, 5 Minute Disney Disney Princess, 5 Minute Disney Pixar, and 5 Minute Disney Avengers selling a total of roughly 281,000 copies in their first week on sale. Despite the the 3% decline in overall sales for the week, print units were still up 2% in the first 47 weeks of 2017, over 2016.

Through its global print partner network, HP offers publishers a more economic, sustainable, and resilient way to do business. Print-on-demand is not a new capability. In fact, publishers have been benefiting from POD for decades. “However, it’s typically been used for managing lower print volume requirements,” says Paul Randall, product marketing manager at HP Publishing Solutions. “But now the industry needs to address other challenges around the sustainability of its supply chains, as well as its ability to react quickly and with agility to changing market dynamics.” As the publishing industry continues to cope with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, many publishers are finding that their supply chains are no longer sustainable. That’s where HP Publishing Solutions can help, with its global print partner network that offers publishers a better way to do business.

As the world around us becomes more digitized, it's not surprising that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has followed suit. In a recent webinar, "Informed Delivery: Connecting Mail to a Digital Experience," sponsored by Satori Software, Tom Glassman, Director of Data Services and Postal Affairs, Wilen Direct; and Bob Schimek, Senior Director, Postal Affairs, Satori Software, discussed the USPS Informed Delivery program and its benefits, usage and adoption in a digital environment. For those who don't know much about Informed Delivery, it's a program through the USPS that gives mail recipients the ability to view their mail electronically before it hits the mailbox. Schimek explained that there are two sides to Informed Delivery: the end consumer and the direct mail industry. The end consumer side provides access to mail recipients before the mail carrier shows up at their door via email and a mobile app. The industry side gives direct marketers and mailers some independence to decide what brand identifiers will be used alongside the scanned image of the mail. Some options include a representative color image or a "ride along" image, which is supplemental content to help identify the brand and can even include a call to action. Click Read More below for more of the story.