Despite the economic downturn, direct and interactive marketing sales will hit the $1.86 trillion mark by the end of the year, a 9% increase over last year.
That estimate was made by Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates (WEFA) as part of an economic forecast conducted for the Direct Marketing Association.
The report showed that direct and interactive marketing will see another 8.3% increase (compounded annually) to $2.8 trillion by 2006. Overall retail sales will grow by only 4.8%, WEFA continued.
In other findings:
* DM ad spending is expected to reach $196.8 billion this year, up 3.63% over last year, and continues to make up more than 55% of all U.S. ad expenditures.The direct marketing total includes $102.5 billion in B-to-B spending, and $94.3 billion in consumer expenditures.
* Consumer direct sales will hit $1 trillion this year, an increase of 8.2% compared with last year.
* B-to-B direct sales continue to grow at almost double the rate of general U.S. B-to-B sales. They totaled $858.1 billion this year, an increase of 9.9% over last year.
"We are pleased that, despite current economic conditions, our industry is continuing to exhibit strong indications of growth in all sectors," said H. Robert Wientzen, president of the DMA, in a statement.
