• by January 21, 2001

Just a few facts from various sources this week, including the Boston Consulting Group, Shop.org, Nielsen//NetRatings and Media Metrix gives us a look back at ad expenditures and customer acquisition costs last year.

During 2000, the portion of the advertising budget spent offline declined steadily, dropping to 51 percent in the first quarter, 41 percent in the second quarter and 36 percent in the third quarter, compared to 62 percent of the marketing budget in 1999 on offline media campaigns, including magazine ads and television commercials.

Higher average consumer spending in 2000, as well as increased revenue from repeat buyers, helped e-tailers recover their customer acquisition costs and move toward profitability. Revenues did not rise as dramatically as the 300 percent increase between 1998 and 1999, according to the report. However, the average order size did increase by 27 percent between 1999 and 2000.

Earlier research by Shop.org and BCG showed that customer acquisition costs dropped from $71 per customer during the fourth quarter of 1999 to $45 in the first quarter of 2000, $40 in the second quarter and $20 in the third quarter.

From ecommercetimes.