Internet websites are becoming increasingly important to multichannel marketers as a full 70 percent of catalog marketers said multichannel sales increased over the last year.
The most successful multichannel marketers, according to the Direct Marketing Association's "Multichannel Marketing in the Catalog Industry" report, are those who have "consistent and integrated standards across all channels."
"Consumers expect - in whatever channel they opt to use - to interact with one company with integrated systems that are transparent to that consumer. After all, the different channels feed off of each other - a consumer looking at a mail-order catalog, for example, may order online. So the marketer's channels must all be consistent," said Anna Chernis, DMA's senior research manager.
This is important because multichannel marketers have felt in the past their Internet channel would demand different pricing, promotions and approaches, in contrast to other channels. That has been found to be inaccurate.
Respondents to the study said their website was now their most important marketing channel, with 44 percent of all sales were transacted on the web, and 33 percent said they wouldn't have received the sale if it wasn't for their website.
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