Royal Mail to trial new scheme that will see internet shoppers targeted with junk mail for their online shopping habits

The pilot scheme is being trialled between Royal Mail and another UK retailer and may prove hard for consumers to opt out of thanks to the firm's policies

Banks have been accused of undervaluing Royal Mail sales ahead of IPO (PA)

Shoppers could be facing huge amounts of junk mail which specifically targets their internet browsing habits, under plans being trialled by Royal Mail.

The firm is to deliver personalised letters to potential customers, advertising products that they have previously viewed online.

By clicking on a product and adding it to an online shopping basket, shoppers will have done enough to get junk mail through their letterbox, the Daily Mail reported.

Royal Mail has recently increased its marketing mail business in an effort to boost revenues due to falling letter sales.

About 37 million adults in Britain now shop online meaning that the plan could generate a large amount of income for the company.

The paper suggests it would be hard for those who did not want to be contacted to opt out of the scheme, since it would be outside of Royal Mail’s policy for preventing generic junk mail, although the company disputes this.

Using “cookies”, the online retailer is able to collect data about customers’ shopping habits online, before then matching the activity to a specific individual’s home address.

Royal Mail is then paid be the retailer to deliver the letter and encourage the resident to purchase the items.

“These plans mean that not only will people be bombarded by targeted adverts, they could also be deluged by letters, often with no knowledge of why or how Royal Mail have got hold of this information,” Daniel Nesbitt, of Big Brother Watch told the Daily Mail.

A spokesman for Royal Mail told The Independent : "Royal Mail is carrying out a direct marketing trial with a retailer, based on its contacts with existing customers who have given their permission to be marketed to.

"We are using an established, targeted direct marketing method – called programmatic – widely used by many retailers and other organisations online, in a more precise and defined way for post."

"The trial is testing the value to customers and businesses of receiving a targeted mailing shortly after they have shown interest in a product online.

"Ultimately, better targeting should mean less unwanted mass mailings. The information used in the pilot is the retailer’s information and in no way involves Royal Mail address data."