Abacus Indicator: Channel Shift in Full Swing

If you’re a consumer merchant gearing up for the holiday season, make doubly certain that your Website is up for the task. According to the Abacus Indicator from Broomfield, CO-based direct marketing services provider Abacus, the Internet accounted for 40% of fourth-quarter sales last year for Abacus B2C Alliance participants that sold via catalog and the Web. Between 2001 and 2004, Website sales grew 120%.

“These statistics clearly demonstrate the multichannel world that marketers now operate in, making it a necessity to have a comprehensive contact strategy across all channels moving forward,” says Casey Carey, vice president of marketing. “We predict Website sales are on track to exceed catalog sales in the next 18 months and that the catalog is a valuable marketing tool to help drive Web sales.”