Two out of three consumers who receive a catalog in the mail will peruse it, according to study by FGI Research commissioned by the American Catalog Mailers Association.
While their actual order-placing method of choice is shifting to online, 58% of the 817 respondents said they look at catalogs as soon as they are received, with 92% indicating they have made a purchase from the catalogs.
While 26% of respondents value the unique assortment of goods catalogs offer the most, other popular reasons include ease of shopping (24%), convenience (22%), previewing future purchases (18%), and gathering product information (16%).
ACMA said the study largely dispels the notion of some that catalogs are becoming unnecessary in a digital world. Two-thirds of the survey’s respondents said that if catalogs were to become too expensive for the catalog companies to mail unsolicited, they would pro-actively request them.