Last updated 20 October 2026
Summary
- Door drops are unaddressed leaflets and brochures delivered by Royal Mail to every letterbox in the postcode sectors you choose; Royal Mail sells the service as Royal Mail Door to Door®
- Cost turns on format, paper weight, volume, and postcode selection, so ask for an itemised quote
- Door drops average a 0.3% response rate, up to 0.6% in retail, and £4.00 in revenue per £1 spent, per JICMAIL
- Track every item with unique codes, URLs, or QR codes and report results next to your digital channels
Door drops are unaddressed leaflets, flyers, and brochures delivered by Royal Mail to every letterbox in the postcode sectors you choose. There is no mailing list and no named recipient: you buy coverage by postcode, and the post does the rest.
This guide covers how the channel works, what drives the cost, who delivers it, and how to measure results alongside your digital campaigns.
What are door drops, and what is Royal Mail Door to Door®?
Door drops are unaddressed printed items delivered to homes and businesses through Royal Mail's postal network. You choose the postcode sectors you want to reach, and postal workers deliver your material with the regular post. Royal Mail delivers to all of the UK's c.32 million addresses, so a door drop can run locally or nationally without using personal data.
“Door drops” is the generic industry term. Royal Mail Door to Door® is Royal Mail's own name for the service it sells. The mechanics are the same either way: an unaddressed item goes to every letterbox in the areas you select.
What can you send?
- Leaflets and flyers: single or folded sheets promoting offers, events, or services
- Brochures and catalogues: multi-page items for retail, grocery, or franchise campaigns
- Samples and coupons: physical items sent with printed creative
Door drops reach business addresses as well as homes within your selected postcodes. If you run a restaurant chasing the lunchtime trade near offices, that business reach matters.
Who delivers door drops, and what is the best door drop company in the UK?
Royal Mail delivers every door drop in the UK. Postal workers carry your material on their existing rounds, which is why no name or address database is needed. Your leaflet lands with the rest of the household's post, and Royal Mail says door drops achieve an 83% engagement rate on average.
So the real choice isn't the carrier. It's who plans the campaign around it: who selects the postcode sectors, handles print and booking, and measures what comes back. You can book with Royal Mail directly, or work with a partner that runs door drops as part of a wider offline programme. When you compare partners, ask three things:
- How do they choose postcode sectors? Look for geo-demographic overlays, not just a radius around a store.
- What's included in the quote? Print, distribution, and any targeting should be itemised.
- How will responses be tracked? You want unique codes or URLs reported next to your other channels.
Door drops are not the same as door-to-door leaflet distribution, where Oppizi Brand Ambassadors deliver by hand on planned walking routes. Door drops are postal. Door-to-Door is people on foot. They sit under different channel families and do different jobs.
How do door drops work, from postcode to letterbox?
Here's how a typical campaign runs.
1. Select your postcode sectors
You choose the areas you want to reach by postcode sector. A postcode sector is the outward code plus the first digit of the inward code, such as SW1A 1. Coverage can be a single sector or a national roll-out across thousands.
2. Submit your artwork and confirm volumes
You supply print-ready creative in your chosen format. Volumes are set by the number of addresses in your selected sectors. A6 is the most common starting format.
3. Royal Mail schedules delivery
Royal Mail plans the delivery window and assigns your items to postal workers on their standard rounds. You don't manage carrier logistics yourself.
4. Postal workers deliver to every letterbox
Delivery happens with the regular post. Every address in the sector receives your item, residential and business alike. There's no sorting by name and no matching to a customer file.
How much does a Royal Mail door drop cost?
A door drop has two cost components: printing and distribution. Both move with format, paper weight, and volume, so the honest answer is an itemised quote for your postcode selection.
Printing
Printing cost depends on format, paper stock, and print run. A6 on standard stock at high volume costs less per piece than A5 on premium stock at low volume. Larger runs usually bring the per-piece rate down.
Distribution
Royal Mail charges per item delivered. The rate depends on your postcode selection, the item's size and weight, and the total volume booked. Higher volumes generally earn better rates.
Formats and minimum volumes
A6 (105 × 148 mm) is the most common UK door drop format and usually the most cost-effective place to start. A5 (148 × 210 mm) gives more room for detailed messaging or product imagery. DL suits menus and price lists. Minimum volumes apply and vary by campaign.
| Format | Dimensions | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| A6 | 105 × 148 mm | Offers, vouchers, quick-read promotions |
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | Product launches, catalogues, detailed messaging |
| DL | 99 × 210 mm | Menus, price lists, service guides |
What response rate do door drops get?
Door drops average a 0.3% response rate, and up to 0.6% in retail, per the JICMAIL Response Rate Tracker, which measured 4,939 UK campaigns through matchback and tracking codes rather than by survey. The same tracker puts door drop return at £4.00 in revenue for every £1 spent across 2023 to 2025, rising to £5.28 in 2025. And it keeps working after it lands: a door drop stays in the home for 5.6 days on average, is picked up 3.0 times, and holds 57 seconds of attention, per JICMAIL's Q1 2026 data.
Those are averages. Your own result depends on the offer, the creative, and how well your postcode sectors match your customer.
How do you measure door drops alongside digital campaigns?
Door drops are measurable when you build the response path in from the start. Use one or more of these on every item:
- Unique URLs: landing pages used only for the door drop
- QR codes: scannable links to an offer or sign-up
- Promo codes: redeemable codes printed on the leaflet
- Dedicated phone lines: numbers used only for the campaign
When you run door drops through Oppizi, every response path reports into the same dashboard as your other channels. That puts your door drop's cost per acquisition next to your paid social and search, measured the same way.
How do door drops compare with addressed mail and leaflet distribution?
The UK has three Direct Mail channels under one parent, plus Leaflet Distribution as a separate family. A simple test: Addressed knows the person. Partially Addressed knows the street. Door Drops knows the postcode. For a deeper side-by-side, see direct mail vs door drops.
| Channel | Targeting | Delivered by | Needs customer data? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addressed Direct Mail | Named individual | Royal Mail | Yes |
| Partially Addressed Mail | Households on a street | Royal Mail | No |
| Door Drops | Postcode sector | Royal Mail | No |
| Door-to-Door (Leaflet Distribution) | Planned residential routes | Brand Ambassadors | No |
Addressed Direct Mail
Addressed Direct Mail (ADM) goes to a named person and needs a customer database. It suits retention, win-back from your own customer file, and high-value prospects. In the UK, ADM campaigns can use lookalike modelling.
Partially Addressed Mail
Partially Addressed Mail is a UK-only Royal Mail product. It targets households by postcode geo-demographics, around fifteen households at a time, and is addressed to the household rather than to a person.
Door-to-Door leaflet distribution
Door-to-Door sits under Leaflet Distribution. Oppizi Brand Ambassadors deliver on foot, with GPS tracking and app verification on every route. In the UK it can use third-party demographic data and lookalike modelling to choose the routes.
How do you target the right households with door drops?
Door drops target by geography, not by name. Here's how to sharpen your reach within that.
Postcode sector coverage
Postcode sectors are the targeting unit. You can pick individual sectors around a store, build coverage across a city, or scale to national reach.
Residential and business reach
Door drops reach homes and businesses within your selected postcodes. A grocery retailer will weight towards residential. A lunch offer aimed at office workers needs business reach too.
Geo-demographic overlays
You can layer geo-demographic data onto your postcode selection to focus on the sectors that match your customer profile, such as young families or urban professionals. The overlay narrows your spend to the areas most likely to respond.
How do you plan and run a door drop campaign?
If you're running your first door drop, here's a practical workflow.
- Set the goal and the audience. Decide what you want, whether that's brand awareness, store visits or online redemptions. Then define who you're trying to reach. Both decisions shape your postcode selection.
- Choose format and creative. A6 is the cost-effective starting point. Keep the call to action clear and include a trackable response path: a code, a URL, or a QR.
- Select postcode sectors. Build your list from geography, demographics, or distance from your stores, and confirm the volume.
- Book delivery with Royal Mail. Oppizi books Royal Mail delivery for you, so you don't deal with carrier logistics directly.
- Track and report. Responses come back through your tracked codes and URLs and report next to your digital channels.
Running your first door drop with Oppizi
Oppizi has distributed more than 25 million leaflets across the UK. We plan the postcode selection, book Royal Mail delivery, and report every campaign in one dashboard, so you can run Door Drops alongside Addressed Direct Mail, leaflet distribution, and parcel inserts from one platform.
Ready to plan a campaign? Request a quote.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I send a leaflet through Royal Mail?
Yes. Royal Mail Door to Door® delivers unaddressed leaflets, flyers, and brochures to every letterbox in the postcode sectors you select. You don't need a recipient name or address list. You choose the areas, supply the artwork, and Royal Mail delivers it with the regular post.
- Are door drops delivered to businesses as well as homes?
Yes. Door drops reach both residential and business addresses within the postcode sectors you select. That makes them useful for local business-to-business offers as well as consumer campaigns, such as a lunchtime deal aimed at nearby offices or a trade offer for local firms.
- How long does a door drop campaign take from booking to delivery?
Lead times depend on volume, format, and your postcode selection, and on when print is finalised. Ask for the booking deadline and delivery window when you request your quote, and plan print so the artwork is ready before it. Larger or national campaigns usually need more notice than a local drop.
- Do I need a customer database to run a door drop?
No. Door drops are unaddressed and go to every letterbox in your chosen postcode sectors, so you don't need a customer file or mailing list. If you want to reach named people from your own data, that's Addressed Direct Mail, which is a separate channel.
- Do door drops use personal data?
No. Royal Mail delivers door drops to every address in the sectors you choose without using personal data, because the item isn't addressed to anyone. Addressed Direct Mail does use named recipient data, so it carries data protection requirements that door drops don't.
- What leaflet size works best for a UK door drop?
A6 is the most common and usually the most cost-effective format for UK door drops. A5 gives more room for detailed messaging or product imagery. DL suits menus and price lists. Pick the smallest format that carries your offer and a clear, trackable call to action.
