Direct marketing revenue was up for the sixth consecutive quarter in a row, according to the Direct Marketing Association’s Quarterly Business Review, released earlier this month.
The review reported a record revenue index of 69 in the fourth quarter of 2004, the highest index number in any quarter since the review’s inception, according to the DMA. (In the QBR index, a score of 50 represents no change in the industry’s performance this quarter vs. the same quarter last year. Scores above 50 represent growth and those below 50 a decline.)
“The industry continues to enjoy a period of robust growth,” said Peter A. Johnson, director of the DMA’s strategic information unit, in a statement. “Even more encouraging, direct marketers are expecting this trend to continue into 2005.”
Within the DM user segment, all performance metrics showed increases, with the QBR revenue index for the segment at 68 and the profitability index at 72. For the user segment as a whole, the average sales increase was 9.4% in fourth quarter 2004, compared with 6.2% in the third. The QBR’s projected revenue index for the segment in first quarter 2005 was 66.
The DM supplier segments reported higher revenue and profitability for the quarter, with a revenue index of 68 and a profitability index of 66. DMA members in this sector expect revenue to continue growing in the first quarter of 2005, with an estimated QBR revenue index of 65.
The review is based on three online surveys of DMA member companies conducted from Jan. 10 to 21. The DMA received 209 survey responses.
