Naysayers have long proclaimed that email is on its way out, but market trends and consumer preferences indicate that sentiment is nothing short of contrarian.

Naturally, amidst the flurry of day-to-day happenings that vie for our attention and appreciation, we often overlook the importance of email in our personal lives. It is no surprise that as a system so vital to our daily functions, email – like its predecessor, Postal Mail – has been taken for granted by many over the years. Still, when asked to stop and reflect on our preferred modes of dealing with businesses, 67% of adult Internet users in North America favored email while 34% and 35% respectively consider websites and Mail an acceptable commercial mode.S

It is also no surprise that forecasts paint a gloomy picture for physical Mail as opposed to Web-based communication channels. Over the next five years, eMarketer projects that consumer preference of Mail for commercial purposes will plummet 1/3 to 23% popularity. In the face of our financial crisis and earnest desire to modernize our nation's infrastructure, the outlook of physical Mail looks even more grim. On the other hand, new and existing eCommerce channels will continue to rise if not remain relatively constant in the near-term.