• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 19, 2002

Catalogs, Stores and Sites In Combination Significantly Increase Spending

According to a survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group and Shop.org, the multi-channel retail market grew by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 72% between 1998 and 2002. Compared to a 31% anticipated growth for online-only retailers in 2002, multi-channel retailers that market products via catalog, store, and online is anticipated to grow by 69%.

From the consumer’s perspective, multi-channel represents greater choices and information and ordering round-the-clock 365 days a year. From the marketer’s perspective, multi-channel poses challenges, ranging from delivering consistent experience across all channels, to fully utilizing the strengths of each channel.

According to a Holiday Shopping Study conducted by DoubleClick in January 2002, customers who interact with a retailer through multiple channels is likely to spend more than other customers. In a study conducted by Home Shopping Network, customers who shopped at both HSN TV and HSN.com spent 26% more than those who shopped using just a single channel. And, Multi-channel shopper purchases 70% more frequently than the average store customer and 110% more frequently from the retailer’s catalog.

Shoppers Spend More Through Multiple Channels DoubleClick finds:

Shoppers using one channel spent $591

Shoppers using two channels spent $894

Shoppers using three channels spent $995
Holiday Shopping Study, DoubleClick, January 2002

And Penny customers show:

Internet only shoppers $121/yr.

Catalog only shoppers $242/yr.

Retail only shoppers $194/yr.

Tri-channel shoppers $1,000+/yr.
JC Penny Study

Advertisers and marketers need to know how and where the consumers are spending in each channel in order to intelligently allocate marketing budget across multiple channels correctly and formulate their marketing strategy accordingly. Data integration, however, is frequently an issue. In a Forrester Research survey conducted in September 2001, the results showed that 63% of retailers and travel suppliers expect to use 3 or more sales channels by 2003. Often, though, companies have their e-mail database in one place, website transactions and interactions in a separate system, and another for the customer and prospect master files.