Vol. 7 No. 4

Catalogs drive web sales

“If you mail consumers a catalog they are twice as likely to make an online purchase.” That was one of the findings of an independent study conducted for the USPS. The study revealed that 15% of consumers who receive a catalog and visit the website make an online purchase. Catalog recipients now account for 22 percent of website traffic and 37% of e-commerce dollars.

A computer company compared its catalog mailing list to online orders. It discovered that 60% of their web page buyers had also received a catalog. Most had not entered the catalog source code. Further analysis found that catalog recipients placed significantly larger orders online than non-recipients. They concluded that browsing through their computer catalog was fast and easy. To view the same number of products, an online shopper would have needed to visit 120 web pages.

This trend is not limited to consumers at home. In an effort to break through the mailbox clutter many companies are mailing to consumers at the office. Business people are consumers too - and they like to shop from their offices! A study conducted by the consumer electronics association found that 28% of the respondents shopped online during the work day...during lunch, on breaks and after hours. Some even admitted to shopping during company time.

B2C direct mail can be used successfully to sell at home, at the office and online.