While Direct Mail and Door Drop volumes in the UK have declined during the pandemic crisis, more time spent at home has seen double digit increases in how much consumers are interacting with and sharing their mail and consequently the length of time mail stays live in the home.

The second quarter was also a period that saw increased government activity in this channel as crucial COVID-related messages were delivered, including a door drop to every household from the Prime Minister in April.

Government Door Drop frequency of interaction increased 45% year on year to 4.21 and lifespan increased 68% to 9.5 days – topping the government’s own direct mail average of 8.5 days. With 27.8 million households mailed, over 117 million ad impressions were generated over a critical month in the crisis.

These figures come from JICMAIL, which collects diary-based data from a panel of 1,000 households every month. It found that during the second quarter, when many people were confined to home for long periods, direct mail and door drops racked up record life spans, with the average DM piece live in the home for 8.5 days on average, and door drops 6.9 days.

Further, the average piece of direct mail was interacted with 4.58 times in Q2, a record high since JICMAIL began tracking mail activity in Q2 2017.

Door drops also saw record levels of consumer engagement, with the average piece interacted with 3.19 times on average – equating to 15% growth year on year.


Business Mail recorded the highest levels of consumer interaction (4.87 times per month); mail sharing (shared with 1.18 people per household) and longevity (live in the home of 9.6 days on average)

Communications from the medical sector – which includes medical, NHS, Private Medical, Dental, Optician and Pharmacy – saw frequency of interaction increasing by 11% to 5.02, while respondents were also more likely to pass medical DM on to other household members (item reach increased 9% to 1.23).

Beyond the Government and Health categories, interaction rates with mail have increased across almost all categories across lockdown:

• Telco DM average frequency increased by +21% as households turned to more entertainment.

• There was a 23% increase for Travel and tourism DM reflecting perhaps, the disruption to holiday plans.

• Utility providers benefited from 14% rise in their average frequency.

Sourced from JICMAIL