The Internet generated 13% of all catalog sales last year, a significant increase over 1999, when overall interactive media generated 9% of total catalog sales.
A shift in how catalog companies define themselves as retailers was also reported with 95% catalogers describing themselves as multi-channel retailers, 53% identifying their companies as "catalog/Internet/retail," and 42% as "catalog/Internet". Only 2% described themselves as "Internet only" and 3% as "catalog only".
During a press briefing on the study yesterday Jules Silvert, executive vice president of Brylane, George Ittner, CEO of Newport News and other panelists --including Lee Lorenzen, president of Catalog City and Michael Sherman, president of Fingerhut -- all agreed that customers who purchase both online and off are more valuable than those who purchase only by one channel. But despite the fact that print catalogs are obviously more expensive to produce than Web sites, none of the panelists saw the four-color books disappearing entirely.
"Catalogs are a great advertising vehicle," said Sherman. "I don't meet people who say 'I'm going to take my laptop to the beach and browse."
This multi-channel strategy is also apparent in the source of sales for catalogers. While 13% of sales were attributed to the Web, 62% of sales were driven by the print catalog and 8% were generated by retail or outlet stores.
Catalogers reported that the most important measurements used to evaluate the results of Internet marketing are: *Sales generated from the Web site – 91% *Increase in total sales as a result of the Web – 69% *Hits on the home page – 60% *Return on investment – 55% *Leads generated by the Web – 43%
Seventy-three percent of catalogers say that greater visibility is the top benefit received from the use of interactive media. Other benefits include:
*Cost savings – 70% *Increased revenue – 68% *Ability to reach new customers – 66% *Time savings – 57% *Better customer service – 54% *New business opportunities – 50%
The DMA State of the Catalog/Interactive Industry Report is conducted annually by The DMA with the cooperation of W.A. Dean & Associates. The 2001 report details the results of a primary research survey of nearly 100 catalog executives covering performance data from 2000.
