Consumers Prefer Holiday Shopping Via Direct Mail Over Internet

Catalog browsing is favored over Internet shopping for holiday purchases according to the Pitney Bowes Holiday Shopping Study.

The study found that U.S. consumers plan to purchase 12.5% of their holiday gifts via direct mail and catalogs this holiday season, while only 6% of all planned purchases will be online.

While most of U.S. consumers report that brick and mortar retail stores remain the most popular means for holiday shopping (77% of this year’s purchases will be made at stores), direct mail and online shopping are growing at a rapid pace.

Sixty-eight percent of consumers surveyed have made catalog purchases in the past, while only 22% have placed orders over the Internet. This wide gap may stem from the finding that 57% of U.S. consumers felt more comfortable with direct mail than with online purchasing (12%), and 45% thought catalogs provided better information than Web sites (32%) for making gift purchase decisions.

In addition, the study revealed that direct mail and catalogs also influence what consumers purchase online. Some 24.5% of the respondents reported that their online purchases were prompted by product or service information first revealed in a catalog or direct mail piece.

The survey was conducted by International Communications Research by telephone in the first week of December 1999 among 768 U.S. households that have purchased either through direct mail or online.