Royal Mail announces huge stamp change with new barcodes added this week

Royal Mail has made a huge change to its stamps – with barcodes to be added so that people can send video messages.

The special barcodes will modernise traditional stamps and make it possible to track and trace letters and provide smartphone links to videos.

Customers can scan the barcodes while using the Royal Mail app and can watch birthday messages, find out information about services and watch clips from senders.

Following a successful trial, the new stamps will be available from Tuesday.

At the moment, a video featuring Shaun the Sheep is the first available to view.

More special videos will be released throughout 2022, with customers able to choose which clip to send when posting a letter.

The new barcoded stamps feature the profile of the Queen with the barcode sitting alongside it, separated by a perforation line.

Each stamp will have a “digital twin” and the two will be connected by the Royal Mail app.

Non-barcoded and Christmas stamps will remain valid until January 2023.

Nick Landon, Royal Mail chief commercial officer, said: “Introducing unique barcodes on our postage stamps allows us to connect the physical letter with the digital world and opens up the possibilities for a range of new innovative services in future.”

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