The technology revolution has created a boatload of collateral damage in the business world, as evidenced by just this week's news. Sears/Kmart, that bastion of middle-class American retail, is in treacherous financial waters and plans to close 120 stores. Kodak, an American institution for more than 100 years, is looking at filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy; and the USPS, faced with mammoth shortfalls, this spring will close hundreds of mail processing centers nationwide and cut about 28,000 jobs.
Let 'em fail, right? Who needs retail dinosaurs like Sears when you can order virtually anything you want online (ironically, online sales for Sears holding Land's End are doing fine)? Why print pictures when you can upload shots direct from your smart phone? And email, Twitter and Facebook have rendered the government-run, snail mail approach of the USPS irrelevant.
Perhaps this thinking is true, even in the world of insurance. According to a recent study by Mintel Comperemedia, direct mail volume to consumers from life, health and property-casualty insurers is down 11 percent in Q3 2011 compared to Q3 2010. The decrease is across all lines of business, with property-casualty direct mail during Q3 2011 down 8 percent from Q3 2010, and down 4 percent from Q2 2011.
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