Research Synopsis
2006 Consumer Catalog Shopping Survey
May 1, 2006

Our own in-market experience found that customers who interact with a brand through two channels, will spend 15% more annually. And the more channels they use, the more valuable they become according to The Harvard Business Review that revealed customers who interact with your brand through three or more channels will spend four times as much. To further support these findings as they related to internet and catalog shopping, Ovation Marketing just conducted its second annual consumer catalog survey to assess:

In a continuing effort to better understand customer behavior as it relates to catalog shopping, Ovation Marketing just conducted its second annual consumer catalog survey to assess:

  • How catalog purchases are being made
  • What’s most important to consumer catalog shoppers
  • The relationship with online purchasing

This nationwide study surveyed 1,285 catalog shoppers.  The respondents averaged between four and five catalog purchases in the last year.

Finding:  90% said they would go online to see a more visual demonstration if offered to do so in a catalog.

Impact:  Very few catalogs are doing this. Yet, this suggests that catalogers can effectively promote streaming videos on their web site such as

  • Product demonstrations (visual proof that these products do what they say they do)
  • Compelling action footage to bond with the customer (e.g. snowboarding, biking or kayaking video for a sporting goods cataloger)
  • Customer testimonials
  • Expert testimonials

Finding:  60% say the way they purchase an item most often is they see it in a catalog and then purchase it online.

Impact:  Why then do catalogers show a T-shirt, or a doll or an imprinted pen to drive the customer to thevery same online picture and copy of the same T-shirt, doll or imprinted pen? This insults the customer’s intelligence.

Increase your catalog’s ability to drive web traffic. Replace a portion of the product sell with dynamic stories, photos, product use suggestions, hints and tips. Think of all the great ideas that have been brainstormed in the past, only to axe them because someone uttered the words, “It’ll never support the real estate.”

Finding:  Respondents say they typically spend 21 - 30 minutes with a catalog.

Impact:  This is far longer than any other medium we can think of – even longer than an average visit on a web site. What can you do to make the experience not only one to sell product but to build the brand? Think of it – up to one-half hour solid of brand exposure you control.

Finding:  When asked to rank a series of attributes on how important they were regarding catalogs, the top four were:

  • The product descriptions (90%)
  • Past experience (87%)
  • Reputation (79%)
  • The photography (69%)

Impact:  Two things here. First, customers want an informative, pleasing presentation. Give it to them. Second,past experience andreputation both speak to the importance of the brand. Always communicate why yours is a brand to be trusted.

Finding:  When asked, “What are the most common ways you become aware of a particular catalog?” – the top three answers were:

  • It simply arrived in my mailbox (58%)
  • Word-of-mouth (42%)
  • Internet search (34%)

Impact:“It simply arrived in my mailbox ” points to the ongoing importance of traditional list rentals. “Word-of-mouth,” as the number two answer, strongly suggests that catalogers can take advantage of viral marketing on the Internet to drive catalog requests.“Internet search”confirms that search engine optimization should be a priority for all catalogers.

If you are interested in a complete presentation of all the results from this 2006 Consumer Catalog Shopping Survey, please call Dave Larson at 608-785-0000 x240 or e-mail Dave at davel@ovationmarketing.com.