SMEs in Ireland send an average of 68 letters per month though most are now posting less thanks to technology, according to new research commissioned by ComReg.

The ComReg research was based on interviews carried out with 1,500 residential consumers and 500 SMEs earlier this year.

ComReg found that larger SMEs send an average of 264 letters per month, while SMEs that prepay by ceadúnas (bulk mail) or meter frank send more letters, an average of 400 letters per month.

Around 60% of the mail sent by SMEs is deemed important by the businesses in question. Residential consumers are sending far fewer letters than business, according to ComReg. On average, residential consumers post two or three letters per month, while 40% send letters less often than monthly.

Satisfactory

Overall, two-thirds of SMEs claim to be satisfied with the cost of sending letter post, although satisfaction levels dwindle among businesses sending high quantities of post. Only 6% of SMEs in the ComReg survey prepay by ceadúnas and another 6% by meter frank machine, but they send almost six times more letter post than SMEs overall.

In Association with

Seven in 10 SMEs that prepay by ceadúnas or meter frank expressed dissatisfaction with the cost of sending letter post.

ComReg also found that there were mixed views among businesses regarding the cost of sending parcels. Four in ten SMEs claimed to be satisfied with parcel costs, while the same proportion expressed dissatisfaction with parcel postage costs.

SMEs are sending an average of 40 parcels per month, with six in 10 businesses claiming to receive parcels at least weekly and four in 10 sending parcels weekly.

In the residential consumer segment, ComReg found that two in five receive parcels at least monthly. One-third of residential consumers never send packages/parcels, while the average number of parcels sent by residential customers is under one a month.