Five-day delivery is not a threat to the direct mail marketing industry.  The real hazard is an unhealthy, money losing and restricted US Postal Service.
Online services continue to permeate our day-to-day activities and are responsible for new trends.  Over the past two years, letter mail delivery continues to decline while package delivery has increased by 14%.  A huge contributor to the decline of letter mail is due to online bill payment while the package delivery increase is predominantly due to online merchandise purchases.
integrated online service is a chief contributor to the resurgence of direct mail marketing.  Highly targeted and interactive mail is topping the charts for customer acquisition, client interaction and retention with high returns.
The 5-day delivery plan will result in a projected savings of $2 Billion.  That savings coupled with the bold move last year to default on payments to subsidize the future retiree fund (mandated solely on the USPS by Washington) would bring the entity very close to operating in the black or at least at a break even.
Post Offices will remain open, box mail will be available and packages will continue to deliver on Saturday.
The decision to end Saturday delivery could still be stopped by Congress.  However, the announcement moves postal reform to the forefront.  removing the restrictions surrounding our USPS and returning it to a healthy and profitable state are the only ways we can retain the power direct mail contains to drive online traffic and revenue in the future.
As submitted upon request by Mail Magazine – February 2013