The research, which is the biggest study undertaken by the organisation in the last five years, found that while 42% of respondents were encouraged to go paperless last year, and nearly half were offered incentives to do so, only about 24% did, with only half of respondents happy to go paperless.

The study also found that people are twice as likely to say that they understand complex information when it is presented to them in physical mail compared to digital formats, and more than half (57%) of respondents said they were less likely to miss something if it comes to them in a physical format.

Royal Mail Marketreach, in partnership with Accenture, commissioned Trinity McQueen to conduct the six-part research programme of over 6,000 consumers.

The data, particularly that which came from the qualitative customer workshops, provided insights into how brands can best optimise their customer mail to deliver both a positive customer experience as well as help to build brand equity.

It found that the key times when physical mail is particularly effective is when the communication needs to be read thoroughly, the recipient needs to act on the information received, the information is important or complex, it needs to be kept for reference, or when security or privacy are possible concerns.

Phil Ricketts, wholesale commercial director at Royal Mail Marketreach, said: “Our research reaffirms customer mail’s importance in the customer relationship and demonstrates how it can benefit businesses looking to bolster their CX strategy.

“It’s an incredibly powerful brand touchpoint, which is invested with huge amounts of trust by consumers, but one where there is massive opportunity to further leverage its impact as part of the customer experience. When executed well, customer mail can add both personal value to customers and commercial value to organisations.”

Lucy Swanston, chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership, the body which represents mailing and printing houses across the UK, welcomed the findings of the study.

She said: “This extensive research provides a vital in-depth insight into consumer attitudes towards customer mail and its continued importance in shaping any customer journey and experience.

“Printers and mailing houses have a huge opportunity to act upon this research by sharing such valuable insight to their customers and implementing some of the best practices and ideas that are within the report.”