Industry research confirms digital mail is one of coworking's most scalable revenue streams
New research from This Week In Coworking confirms what many operators have been sensing: the traditional desk-and-office model isn't the whole story anymore.
The analysis examined revenue breakdowns across independent and multi-location operators from the U.S., Australia, and Puerto Rico. It found that:
Private offices still dominate at roughly 72.5% of revenue, but the remaining 27.5% tells a more interesting story about where growth is actually happening
Traditional coworking memberships now account for under 9% of revenue, while on-demand products like meeting rooms contribute nearly 9% on their own
The remaining 11.5% comes from the "other" category, which includes virtual services, hospitality offerings, event space, and landlord partnerships
Virtual services, including mail handling, business addresses, and virtual offices, emerged as "some of the most scalable revenue lines in coworking”
These services require little additional space while generating revenue comparable to smaller physical locations in some portfolios.
For iPostal1 Workspace partners, this isn't news. It's validation.
For everyone else, here’s what you need to know.
Finding #1: Operators are prioritizing services that don't compete for square footage
The research identified something specific: operators are prioritizing revenue streams that don't compete for square footage, don't consume disproportionate staff time, and leverage existing operations without requiring additional real estate.
Virtual services check every box.
The study noted operators are unbundling these services and charging separately for mail volume, additional business entities, phone answering, and meeting room access for virtual members.
What used to be bundled as a perk is now a standalone revenue line.
Unlike event space (inconsistent bookings) or hospitality packages (labor-intensive coordination), virtual offerings generate recurring monthly revenue without the operational complexity.
This Week In Coworking’s research highlighted operators moving toward services that are "decoupled from square footage."
Digital mail is the clearest example of that principle in action: your square footage is fixed, but your revenue potential isn't.
Finding #2: Automation makes the difference between profit and drain
The study from This Week In Coworking included an important caveat: poorly automated or priced mail handling can actually erode margins despite steady demand.
This is where most operators get tripped up.
Photographing envelopes by hand, emailing images individually, tracking forwarding requests in spreadsheets, and chasing down payments creates exactly the kind of staff-intensive service the study warns against.
But properly automated digital mail, like the system offered by iPostal1 Workspace, changes the equation entirely:
Members see mail images instantly through an app
They request services digitally
Billing integrations to streamline the payment process
Your staff scans mail into the system and executes requests, nothing more
The chaos disappears, and the service becomes one of your highest-margin offerings.
The difference between digital mail as a profit center and digital mail as a drain on resources comes down to infrastructure.
Finding #3: Virtual customers convert to physical memberships
The research noted that virtual services often serve as an entry point into the broader workspace ecosystem, with customers later converting to physical memberships.
This pattern creates a natural pipeline:
Someone signs up for digital mail because they need a professional business address
They visit your space to pick up a package and notice your meeting rooms
They book a day office while they're in town
Eventually, they need regular workspace and become a full member
The customer acquisition cost for that conversion is minimal.
They're already paying you monthly and already trust your brand. So, converting them to higher-value services requires good operations and smart conversations, not advertising spend or cold outreach.
Digital mail isn't just recurring revenue. It’s also a lead generation channel.
What our partners' data reveals about scalable digital mail
We pulled data from iPostal1 and iWorkSpaceMail partners to see what "scalable virtual mail revenue" means in practice (and William Edmundson, EVP at iPostal1 Workspace, shared them with Hector Kolonas on This Week in Coworking’s Undercurrents Podcast).
Here are the highlights.
In 2025, our partners earned over $5 million in digital mail revenue. That's actual money deposited in actual bank accounts, not projections or estimates.
Across our network, the patterns are consistent:
50% of customers receive no mail in any given month. That's truly passive revenue: monthly subscription fees with zero service requests.
89% of total revenue comes from monthly subscription fees, not per-transaction services, and another 4% comes from storage fees. This means digital mail behaves more like a SaaS business than a traditional coworking service, offering 93% passive income.
Managing 100 digital mail customers takes roughly 30 minutes per day. That's less time than your lunch break, supporting a revenue stream with no ceiling.
Average revenue per customer ranges from $25-50 monthly, with additional income from scanning and forwarding.
The math is straightforward: a single file cabinet's worth of space can generate $2,500-5,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
You can compare that to the 100-200 square feet a private office requires to generate similar numbers.
Since 2022, we've grown from 209 partner locations to a network spanning thousands of workspaces—a 45-50% annual growth rate. That's not vendor hype. It’s operators discovering this revenue stream actually works.
How operators use digital mail to drive revenue and retention
Perfect Office Solutions uses digital mail as both a revenue stream and a team incentive.
Founder Chiko Abengowe built a $110,000 per month revenue stream across 23 locations by rewarding team members for digital mail growth. The service doesn't just generate income. It motivates staff and strengthens operations.
Office Evolution owner Peggy Barron uses digital mail as a retention tool.
When members downsize or can't afford full offices anymore, she transitions them to virtual memberships with digital mail. Revenue stays in the building, and the relationship remains intact for when they're ready to expand again.
Expansive rolled out iPostal1 across 40+ locations practically overnight because the model was simple enough to deploy at scale without disrupting existing operations. The infrastructure worked, the revenue followed, and the expansion continues.
These aren't outliers. They're examples of what happens when operators build digital mail into their revenue stack properly.
Your competitors are reading the same research as you are
Virtual addresses are becoming part of the standard coworking revenue stack. The research confirms it: operators across multiple countries and business models are reaching the same conclusion independently.
The research showed this diversification is happening across the U.S., Australia, and Puerto Rico, with operators consistently moving toward services that leverage existing operations without additional real estate.
That means your competitors are reading the same study.
They're evaluating the same opportunity, and considering whether to add digital mail services before or after the operator down the street does it first.
Here's what changes when you move first: once a prospect has a virtual mail address with another provider, you've lost that revenue.
But if you're the provider, you've just added $25-50 monthly recurring revenue that compounds across every virtual member.
The window for being early is closing. The window for being smart about implementation is still open.
The optimal digital mail platform infrastructure already exists
The research from This Week In Coworking validates a trend our partners have been living for years: virtual services work, digital mail scales, and the revenue is real.
What separates operators who succeed with this model from those who struggle comes down to infrastructure:
Manual processes fail
Automated platforms succeed
The technology makes the difference
iPostal1 and iWorkSpaceMail provide that infrastructure. The platform handles customer onboarding, payment processing, mail image delivery, service requests, and compliance tracking. Your team scans mail and executes requests. Everything else runs automatically.
This Week in Coworking’s study confirmed the trend. Our partners prove it works. The only question left is timing.
Your square footage is fixed, but your revenue potential isn't. Digital mail adds recurring income without competing for space, without overwhelming your team, and without changing your core business model.
The industry data validated what works. The infrastructure exists to implement it. The market is ready. Are you?
If you want to get started with iPostal1 and iWorkSpaceMail, contact us today to start building a new revenue stream for your workspace with digital mailbox solutions.
