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More People are Making Online Purchases as a Result of Direct Mail

A new study from The Royal Mail’s Market Reach initiative has looked into the role of printed catalogues in the digital age, analysing how catalogues can help drive website engagement.

The study found the benefits of catalogue mailings can be instant, with 60%of people going online to make a purchase within a week of receiving one. It also found that more than half of them will spend over £40 on their first purchase.

Additional findings include that for 50% of people, catalogues are a convenient way to review products and 36% say it allows them to compare products before a purchase.
Furthermore, when they go online, consumers with catalogues look at more than double the number of pages viewed by the average person per visit. They also spend 109% more time on any given website than the average site visitor.

70% of people spend between 5 minutes and half an hour reading their catalogues compared with the 11 minutes spent browsing the average retail website.
Jonathan Harman, Managing Director for Market Reach commented on the figures: “The report shows the harnessing power of physical communications including Direct Mail and their distinctive ability to engage consumers and drive digital activity.

“Retailers who overlook the role of catalogues in online shopping behaviour could be missing out on sales. Catalogues drive online sales by creating product awareness, recruiting new customers and building brand loyalty.”

ComScore conducted the research in September 2012, surveying 2,562 UK residents with 2,062 having picked up or received a catalogue in the past 12 months. To expand its findings ComScore looked at the behaviour of its passively tracked online panel of 60,000 individuals to see how people in the UK interact with catalogues.