The industry can expect to see a seven to 15% increase in catalog mail volume this year, according to Ben Perez, president of list management/brokerage firm Millard Group Inc.
Perez presented results from Millard’s second annual post-holiday catalog satisfaction study at the Direct Marketing Association’s Catalog-on-the Road day in Cambridge, MA on Thursday. The survey polled online shoppers of 48 different catalogs. About 450,000 e-mails were sent out, and close to 66,000 responses were received.
Not surprisingly, considering the audience, the Web outranked both paper catalogs and retail when it came to meeting customer expectations. But online shopping sites fared poorly when it came to copy: only 43% of respondents said the site they shopped from accurately described its products, down from 52% last year. Fifty-four percent ranked the site they had purchased from as a good source of products, down from 51% last year. And most distressingly, only 37% said the site offered a good value for the money spent, down from 40% last year.
“These are not good scores, and with all the options shoppers have, we need make sure we don’t drive them away,” said Perez. “There is a limit to what consumers will spend.”
A chief concern to catalogers is the proliferation of “big box” retailers like Wal-Mart, who not only have significant brick and mortar presences, but formidable Web sites as well, he added. “The customer is in charge more than ever.”
Paper catalogs still have a place in the virtual world, Perez noted. Eighty percent of respondents said receiving a print catalog promoted them to shop online, and 65% reported having the catalog with them as a reference tool when they made their Web purchase.
Network
