USPS highlights effectiveness of catalogs to businesses
By: Mark Haslan
Overnight Prints

 

 

 

 

Direct mail is a robust marketing medium, with formats ranging from postcards to brochures, each with its own benefits. Now, the United States Postal Service is focusing on the sales potential of catalogs with a new initiative.

 

The campaign emphasizes the value of using catalogs to drive customers to businesses’ websites. According to the report, shoppers that receive direct mail from a company tend to spend more money per purchase. Direct mail recipients buy, on average, 4.1 items and spend $80 with a company, which is 0.8 items and $9 more than consumers who receive nothing. Companies that specifically used catalogs saw an even greater revenue lift, with customers spending nearly $20 more per purchase.

 

The USPS asserts that catalogs have the greatest influence on prospective customers, with 70 percent visiting companies’ web pages after receiving one. Catalogs were also found to discourage comparison shopping by more than 10 percent. Additionally, customers were more likely to shop for gifts on websites of companies they had received catalogs from.

 

Additionally, businesses can use catalogs to strengthen their brands. The USPS says consumers who have received catalogs are more satisfied with business websites and their overall shopping experiences, and many are likely to recommend the company to others.

 

The USPS is reaching business owners through direct mail, webinars, instructional DVDs and banner ads on the internet. The direct mail campaign was launched in June, while the webinars will be held on July 20, July 28 and August 24. Companies that express interest in generating new campaigns will be offered additional help from the Postal Service.

 

"The goal is to convince or persuade companies that have relied on the internet to grow their businesses through catalogs. Many have gotten to a point where growth is limited," Tom Foti, manager of marketing mail at the US Postal Service, told DMNews. "And what we found was that many companies who went beyond the traditional online model, such as Zappos or Dell, when they expanded into print, their businesses grew in ways they had not thought of."

 

The USPS’ new campaign comes in the middle of its second annual summer sales. As a part of the program, businesses that send more than 105 percent of the mail they did last summer will receive a 33 percent discount. In order to be eligible, companies must have sent at least 350,000 mailers in the summer of 2009.
 

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