“Direct marketing has evolved from a linear process to a delicate science of understanding how each channel plays a unique role in the customer journey,” says Stefanie Cortes, Director of Strategic Analysis, Direct Marketing, RRD. “As marketers continue to feel the pressure to deliver and prove ROI, it’s critical we provide our clients with verifiable methodologies that match messaging and touchpoint strategies to the individual preferences of their target audiences." With the direct mail channel being core to the DMG offering, this specialized group has developed a simplified three-phase approach — identify, create, deploy — that fuses audience insights and creative expertise with intentional delivery strategies to meet the needs of performance-minded marketers: *Identify, understand and prioritize the right audience *Create messaging and design that drives awareness and response *Deploy coordinated direct marketing campaigns via scheduled, automated or complete journeys

Through large investments in new technology and new logistics planning and execution, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) significantly improved its delivery performance during this past holiday season. Mail items and packages were delivered within 2.5 days on average (16 billion in volume), compared to 2.8 days during the same period last year (Nov. 15 – Jan. 9). On-time delivery scores were higher virtually across the board, with the best scores being in its last mile Destination Delivery Units (DDU). “Customers entrusted us with billions of letters, cards, and packages, and we delivered—faster than last year and with strong consistency across the network,” said Deputy Postmaster General, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Human Resources Officer Doug Tulino.

A U.K.-based company ranks as the fastest-growing retailer in the U.S. following its acquisition of Alabama-based Hibbett in 2024. J.D Sports tops the National Retail Federation’s “2025 Hot 25 Retailers” list compiled by Kantar. The annual study ranks the fastest-growing retailers in the U.S. based on increases in domestic sales between 2023 and 2024.   JD Sports achieved 41.5% domestic sales growth after adding nearly 1,200 Hibbett, City Gear and Sports Addition stores across 36 states in a deal valued at approximately $1.1 billion. (List of all 25 retailers at end of article.) Rounding out the top five are Primark at No. 2 with 30% sales growth, followed by Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing (27.7%), Shell (26.8%) and Abercrombie & Fitch (15.2%). Primark and Abercrombie & Fitch both jumped two spots on this year’s list, while Fast Retailing remained at No. 3 for the second year in a row.