The Top Ten Ways Print Helps You Prosper: #6 - Buyers seek print

The success of retail websites means printed catalogs can be relegated to the doornail file. Or so says the conventional wisdom. But, recent research indicates otherwise.

Online consumers who received a printed catalog from any given retailer were nearly twice as likely to make an online purchase at that retailer's website. The finding comes from a comScore survey based on 6,400 responses from online shoppers.

The reason for the sales windfall: consumers seek print when they're ready to buy. That's a fact supported by a 2005 field study by the Direct Marketing Association. Scoring the primary channels for generating orders, the research found that 60% came from printed catalogs, 24% were inspired by retail settings and only 9% arrived via internet.

The percent of sales by channel also showed print's pulling power. Paper catalogs accounted for 42% of sales, retail 20%, websites 26% and other channels 12%.

In a 2006 study of newspaper readers sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America, 78% reported that they use newspaper inserts to plan shopping and 76% say that these inserts have helped them save money.

The moral: If you're not using print, you're missing out on big numbers.

  ©2006, The Print Council, Washington, DC, www.theprintcouncil.org