Older folks are buying more items from catalogs but middle-aged people are ringing up the bills.
This according to the just-released annual Abacus Consumer Catalog Buying Trend Report that studied U.S. catalog-buying households from May 1999 to May 2000.
Households run by people ages 66 to 75 have the most transactions, making four catalog purchases a year. Those in the youngest age group, 18 to 25, make the fewest — only 2.2.
The older group, though, spends less on catalogs — just $338 per household. The biggest spenders are those 46- to 55 year- olds, at $415 annually.
From then on, as the age range drops, the average dollar amount spent per household falls accordingly.
Consumers age 56 to 65 spend $412; 36-to-45-year-olds put out $373; and 26-to-35-year-olds spend $311. Those with the youngest members buy the least ($206).
Catalogers use the report as an industry benchmark, said Riad Shalaby, Abacus Direct’s vice president of research, who headed the study.
The report also revealed that households of 25- to 65-year-olds make more transactions, spend more for each transaction and bought more per household than in the previous year.
Not surprisingly, as household income increases, the number of purchases does too, with those in the $125,000-plus range buying 4.8 items a year.
The report is based on information from Abacus’ database of 3.5 billion transactions from 90 million households. Broomfield, CO-based Abacus is a division of DoubleClick Inc., New York.
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