Commentary

Selling Online VS Offline

The July 2002 Industrial Purchasing Barometer from Thomas Register finds that 32% of buyers say direct sales have had the best influence on ROI, compared to just 15% saying the same about the net. Thomas Register surveyed members of its 760,000 pool of opt-in users, which is made up of buyers in the manufacturing, engineering, wholesale trade, distribution and government sectors.

Marketing Activity Yielding Largest ROI During Past Year
(July, 2002, % of respondents)

Direct Sales32%
Networking/referrals21%
Homepage/online outreach15%
Trade Shows11%
Advertising9%
Direct Mail5%
Other7%
Source: Thomas Register, August 2002

For a better idea of the companies that are marketing online in the US, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reported in April 2002 that 25% of small companies upsell on their main websites whereas 47% of large companies do the same. A whopping 81% of large companies use their website for cross-selling by targeting offline buyers online.

Website Marketing, 2001 (% of respondents)

 Size of Company
SmallMediumLarge
Avg. no. of products marketed on website64040
Avg. no. of products marketed w/Online Catalog17538725
Can conduct electronic transactions20%52%63%
Upsell on primary website25%43%47%
Cross-sell targeting offline buyers online45%68%81%
Cross-sell targeting online buyers offline69%61%56%
Source: Direct Marketing Association, Apr 2002
Note: Small Company, $5 million or less; Medium, $5-500 million; Large, over $500 million

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