Catalog-Driven Sales Continue to Shift Online: Study
A new report by DoubleClick shows a continuing channel shift online in catalog-driven purchases.
In 2003, 54% of catalog-driven orders were recorded at call centers, 22% online and 24% in stores. That balanced out a bit more in 2004, with 36% occurring online, 35% at call centers and 29% in stores.
The DoubleClick Holiday 2004 Shopping Report: Catalog and Multi-Channel Purchase Behavior shows that the overall quantity of catalog mailing drops for the nine weeks between Labor Day and the first week of November was consistent with 2003 levels.
During this period, 60% of mailers increased circulation and 40% decreased circulation over 2003 levels. On a week-by-week basis, the largest increase in mailings was during the week that followed Labor Day, which saw a 55% lift in mail drops. Conversely, the final week of October saw a 50% decrease over the same period last year, likely because of mailers trying to avoid competing for attention during the then-upcoming election.
“The holy grail for marketers has been the ability to connect information from multiple marketing initiatives to various sales channels,” said Brian Rainey, president of Abacus, a division of DoubleClick, in a statement. “Marketers that can connect data from catalog mailings to call centers, Web sites and retail stores clearly understand the changing role of the catalog, enabling them to truly leverage the power of this medium and drive shoppers to each of their sales channels.”
The report is based upon aggregate data derived from a subset of DoubleClick’s Abacus customers.
