Catalogue popularity on the up

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Where once it was a core part of the business, the print catalogue is seen to have become an auxiliary sales channel whose sole purpose is to drive traffic to the website. But far from being redundant, the catalogue’s role is still key to multichannel success.

Royal Mail’s Home Shopping Tracker 2009, based on a survey of 1,014 consumers, found that almost two-thirds of shoppers consult a catalogue before buying products or services—an increase of 9 percent compared to last year. As far as online shoppers are concerned, the catalogue forms an important part of the purchasing process. Forty-five percent of consumers consult a print catalogue before buying online, an 8 percent increase on 2008. What’s more, even consumers who do not shop from home enjoy receiving catalogues; just 28 percent of them say they don’t like receiving catalogues at all, whereas 68 percent enjoy browsing a posted or in-store catalogue—an increase of 12 percent on 2008. These consumers, according to Royal Mail’s research, use catalogues for price comparisons, browsing, and for inspiration and ideas.

British shoppers are continuing to adopt multiple channels: More than four out of five UK consumers (83 percent) research products and services through a catalogue or online before making purchases. Of those 83 percent, the highest adopters of multichannel shopping are, not surprisingly, 16- to 34-year-olds. It’s worth noting, however, that the percentage of those aged 55 and older using the internet to purchase goods or services has doubled in the last four years—in 2009 more than 1 in 5 “grey market” consumers shopped online.

As always, the bottom line has the final say. So before you do away with your print catalogue, believing it to be an outmoded method of communicating with your customers, consider this: the average annual number of items bought through a catalogue has increased to its highest level for the past seven years, and now stands at 11.4 purchases per person. Average spend per person through catalogues has also increased to £511, some £170 higher than the figure for 2007. Perhaps the strongest indication that catalogues are here to stay is that an estimated £4.9 billion was spent via catalogues in 2009, a 23 percent increase on the previous year.