Breakdown: Special delivery

Canada Post cites rising employee pension costs and innovative competition as among the top reasons for its distress. The crown corporation currently delivers 23.6% less transaction mail per address than it did in 2008 and expects a substantial financial loss in 2013. “While challenging, this new reality offers us ample opportunity to redefine our role and stay relevant in the digital economy,” says Canada Post’s president and CEO, Deepak Chopra. As for the rest of the business community, day-to-day communication seems to be less about the cost of a paper trail than about electronic efficiency. Most group insurers, for instance, prefer email over other forms of social network sharing. Still, despite the advantages of email, diligent organizations would be wise to factor in its true cost to avoid budget impacts.