The Utility of USPS Inbound Business Reply Envelope Tracking for Survey Data Collection

In recent years, United States Postal Service (USPS) delivery delays have been reported, and proposed changes may result in an expanded delivery window, which poses challenges for survey data collection relying on the USPS. Delays increase the possibility that mailed reminders and follow-up outreach will cross paths with the completed and en route self-administered mail booklets. One approach to limit this possibility is to include unique Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) on courtesy reply or business reply envelopes (BRE). We describe how we incorporated inbound BRE tracking for a fall 2024 survey and report on the accuracy of the IMb tracking, the average number of days between the initial USPS scan and the delivery date, and the potential cost savings from suppressing mailed follow-up reminders for returned BREs that were en route via the USPS but had not been delivered.