The Los Angeles Times has a story about how print catalogs seem to be making a comeback: “In a time of explosive growth for online buying, retailers and shoppers are showing renewed interest in a humble purchasing device that uses paper instead of pixels.”
Among the companies making commitments to print catalogs are Sears, Toys R Us, Wayfair, and Neiman Marcus.
According to the Times, while “fewer catalogs are in the mail these days, 9.8 billion in 2016 compared with the 2007 peak of 19.6 billion,” there seems to be some evidence (from the Data & Marketing Association and the U.S. Postal Service, natch) that “consumers are paying more attention to them than ever … A survey included in a recent DMA report found that nearly one-third of those polled said getting a catalog drove them to shop online.”
Among the companies making commitments to print catalogs are Sears, Toys R Us, Wayfair, and Neiman Marcus.
According to the Times, while “fewer catalogs are in the mail these days, 9.8 billion in 2016 compared with the 2007 peak of 19.6 billion,” there seems to be some evidence (from the Data & Marketing Association and the U.S. Postal Service, natch) that “consumers are paying more attention to them than ever … A survey included in a recent DMA report found that nearly one-third of those polled said getting a catalog drove them to shop online.”
- KC's View:
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I don’t know about you, but when I saw this story I wasn’t really surprised. It confirmed something that I sort of knew intuitively, which is that we’ve been getting a lot more catalogs in the mail this year … almost of which are going right into recycling. What a waste.
