About Business Envelopes
Stamped, metered, windowed or not, everyone has seen business envelopes at some point. Probably too often, in fact, since most of what's considered "junk mail" comes in a business envelope. But from a business perspective, every aspect of these envelopes, which streamline a process and maximize efficiency, are important.
Other People Are Reading
-
Function
-
Business envelopes are used for any number of applications, virtually any time a company must communicate in writing with a customer, supplier, creditor or other entity. They carry invoices, checks, letters and solicitations, serving as the backbone of most business administration. Another common function of business envelopes is as a vehicle for prepaid postage, which makes response from a customer more likely by shifting the burden of addressing and paying for the return. These are usually either printed with metered postage or stamped by a corporate postage machine.
Features
-
Business envelopes are usually 24 lb. white wove stock, a somewhat heavier paper than most document sheets, and certainly heavier than fancy, formal papers used for some wedding invitations. Business envelopes also feature a sturdy gummed flap that opens from the top and seals securely. Some variations feature a window at the bottom left that allows addresses printed by check-writing software and other computer-generated forms to show through, or a double window that reveals a return address as well. Another available feature for business envelopes is a blue security tint on the interior that creates opacity for privacy and confidentiality.
-
Identification
-
The standard business envelope is the Number 10, which comes with several variations. Other envelopes of similar design are also used with smaller or larger sizes, based on their use. The Number 9, which is slightly smaller, is often placed inside a Number 10 as a reply envelope. Smaller sizes are common for credit card and utility billing return envelopes, while larger sizes, fairly less common, are usually reserved for holding greater numbers of documents than would fit in a standard business envelope. Most business envelopes are white, though yellow, blue and brown variations are not uncommon.
Size
-
The standard Number 10 business envelope is a rectangle 9 1/2 by 4 1/8 inches, regardless of whether it has a window or not. The Number 9 reply envelope is 8 7/8 by 3 7/8 inches, and can fit inside a number 10 without folding. The standard window dimensions on both Number 9s and 10s are 1 1/8 by 4 1/2 inches. The smallest widely available business envelopes are the Number 6 3/4, which measure 3 5/8 by 6 1/2 inches and can feature a window of 1 1/8 by 4 and 1/2 inches. The largest is a Number 14, at 5 by 11 1/2 inches with a window 1 1/8 by 4 1/2 inches.
Considerations
-
When ordering business envelopes, most companies choose to customize them with a unique logo or design, which can often be uploaded to a website or submitted on a removable flash drive. Other companies choose to reflect their values by using business envelopes of recycled material.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit Sakurambo (GFDL 1.2 & CC-BY 2.5)
