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Home→The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing→Z→zip code

zip code

Definition:
A numeric code appended at the end of American postal addresses as an aid to the sorting of the mail. Similar systems exist in most continental European countries. The zip code does not indicate the addressee's location with as much precision as the British and Canadian alphanumeric POSTCODES, and is therefore much less useful as a basis for DIRECT MAIL targeting. For example, the zip code 10016 discloses no more than did the district number in the superseded 'New York, NY 16', that the destination is somewhere in a large sector of mid-town Manhattan, the '100' being the routing code for New York City. Outside the large cities, a whole township is likely to share a single zip code.

Cross-References:
[postcode] [direct mail]

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© Westburn Publishers Ltd 2002, The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing edited by Michael J Baker, ISBN 978-0-946433-01-8. www.themarketingdictionary.com. Entry: [Keith Crosier], [1998].