Most of us in the industry have noticed the ongoing declines in mailing and printing. Opening our mailboxes, we’ve seen a gradual decline as personal letters are being replaced by e-mail messages. Even more significant, though, has been the precipitous decline in the volume of bills, statements, and other transactional documents. Transactional in-plant printers produce documents in centralized printing environments for applications like bills, statements, invoices, explanations of benefits (EOBs), and other critical business communications. Just a few years ago, more than a quarter of the U.S. Postal Service’s total revenues came from bills and payments. Furthermore, First-Class Mail—the flagship product of the Postal Service—has traditionally accounted for the highest revenues for all mail. That said, First-Class Mail volume has declined sharply from 103 billion pieces in 2001 to 64 billion pieces in FY 2014.

Although things are changing, traditional mailing and printing methods are still an important part of the ecosystem. Early predictions about the rapid adoption of electronic invoices and online payments have proven to be exaggerated, as have other gloom-and-doom predictions regarding printing/mailing of bills and statements. When researching customer preferences for traditional mail versus electronic alternatives, some interesting trends emerge.

As part of the gray-haired demographic, I admit that I still like paper. I like having a physical reminder to pay a bill, as well as a folder filled with documents so my monthly billing history is at my fingertips. I can see at a glance how much is owed and which payment options are available. According to InfoTrends’ Annual State of the Transactional Communications Market Survey, I’m not alone in my preferences. Over 50% of the respondents to this survey reported that having a physical reminder to pay was one of the biggest benefits of hard-copy bills and statements. Meanwhile, over a third of respondents liked having hard copies for their own records.