September 23 2008

Paper is dead! Long live paper!

It's not often that consumer surveys come up with truly surprising results. But the Royal Mail's Home Shopping Tracker Study 2008 has done just that. Catalogues, it seems, do drive higher sales online. And those hard-to-reach digital natives? Well, they use them more than anyone...

The tech generation (you know, those 'digital natives' that live, eat and breathe the interweb and won't respond to any kind of marketing unless it's some hot, new viral thing on their mobile or their Facebook account) it seems, likes nothing more than to sit down with a good catalogue before doing their shopping, and catalogue readers in general spend 13% more than those who don't read catalogues.

Almost two thirds (62%) of young consumers use a catalogue to shop, either for buying directly or helping them with online or in store purchases, says the Royal Mail's new Home Shopping Tracker Study. This compares with a national average of only 54% for all adults.

• 71% of home shoppers and 56% of non-home shoppers like to receive catalogues, most preferring to get them through the post
• One in three non-home shoppers browse a catalogue for at least one store purchase
• 75% of home shoppers keep catalogues as a reference source for prices, browsing and ideas — and two fifths keep catalogues for over four months

And, perhaps most importantly, the 37% of shoppers who consulted a catalogue before making purchases online in the past year spent 13% more than those who did not. Online shoppers spent £1,502 on average — but the figure rose to £1,694 for those who used catalogues first.

The survey also found that:

• 62% of consumers now shop from home in one form or another
• Online shopping grew by 13%, with 44% of adults now shopping via the web
• 98% of consumers are highly satisfied with online shopping. Convenience is the key driver for 69%, ahead of price, which was singled out by 33% of online shoppers

"The growing trend to shop from home means that almost two thirds of adults are now shopping in this way," says Val Walker, Royal Mail's head of multi-channel retail. "While the biggest growth in home shopping has been witnessed online, it is interesting to see just how popular catalogues remain, especially among younger, tech savvy consumers. The evolving role of the catalogue as a sales driver for online and in-store shopping is stronger than ever."

by Sarah Clark (Web Editor)