Survey: CHANNEL CHOICES

Direct marketing purchasers prefer catalogs over any other medium — by a wide margin.

Of the buyers surveyed by Yankelovich 67% bought through catalogs in the last six months, compared with 46% by direct mail. Home shopping/infomercials were next at 33%.

The catalog percentage went down from 2002 and direct mail went up, but that may be because the questions were phrased differently this time. Both channels retain the same positions as last year.

According to Yankelovich, 30% of all DM customers bought by direct mail from a company they were already doing business with. Another 16% bought by direct mail from firms as first-time customers. E-mail held more or less steady at 16%. Meanwhile, 12% purchased through online/banner ads, and 5% via telemarketing.

Yankelovich defines purchasers as consumers who shop through a direct channel at least once a year and have bought through at least one of the above channels in the past six months. They represent 52% of all direct channel shoppers.