Catalogues performed strongly in the latest quarterly ACRS Shopper Report, being tracked in terms of shopping frequency, channel usage, channel purpose and drivers of shopping behaviour.
As a “valuable source of information”, 76 per cent of shoppers surveyed use catalogues at least sometimes for making purchasing decisions and looking for information. Forty-one per cent use them for general information and 47 per cent for price comparisons for non-grocery shopping.
Just behind the internet, catalogues are more likely to be used than in-store sources when seeking general information and for price comparisons.
Catalogue readership continues to strengthen, with 15 per cent of shopper respondents saying they intend to use catalogues more over the next 12 months, and 72 per cent continuing to use the same number of catalogues for shopping purposes.
“In a recent episode of [ABC-TV program] Gruen XL, [panelist] Todd Sampson noted that retailers have dubbed catalogues as ‘Crackalogues’ due to their amazing reach, strong brand presence in the home, high-quality ‘geotargeting’ and remarkable influence,” Australasian Catalogue Association CEO Kellie Northwood said.
“The ACRS data supports this and what other research agencies have been reporting: catalogues are a strong performer for retailers. Compared with other media channels, catalogues’ audience reach is one of the largest in the country and catalogues perform highly as an activating shopper-marketing device assisting in the path to purchase.”
Overall, 89 per cent of shopper respondents read at least one catalogue a week and, across most age demographics, the majority read one to three catalogues a week. In particular, 52 per cent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 read one to three catalogues weekly. Respondents aged over 45 tend to read more catalogues weekly, with 30 per cent of those aged 55 to 64 reading more than 10 catalogues a week.