subject: Delivery Companies Making Hay From Continued Success Of Catalogues [print this page] Nearly half (45 per cent) of the people questioned for the same survey said they would still consult a catalogue even if they eventually made their purchase online. Print catalogues, rather than being a relic of the 20th century, are alive and well, and are actually growing in influence as a source of buying information.
The most popular items bought after browsing through a catalogue sent in the post include clothing, cosmetics, furniture and toiletries. The continued popularity of catalogues may be down to consumers growing awareness of online shopping channels, but a reluctance to commit to purchases until they have seen an item illustrated in colour and in a reasonable size.
And of course, this success is bringing beneficial effects to many delivery companies.
Most catalogues (52 per cent) are received in the post, with people far preferring this to going into a store and taking them home. The ever-greater size of many catalogues may well explain this finding.
Shoppers also admit that they hold onto their catalogues for several months, with four out of ten claiming that they would keep them for more than four months. Catalogues and/or the internet are consulted by 83 per cent of all shoppers before they make a decision to buy, the survey showed. And shoppers are increasingly combining their searches for particular products across several platforms, as they become ever-more aware of ways to seek out the best deals.
The continued popularity of catalogues is, of course, excellent news for many a delivery company, which is helping meet the growing demand for goods to be delivered directly to customers to a short timescale.
Apart from catalogues, going along to a store to check out products we intend to buy still rates highly, while a much smaller proportion just five per cent will go to a TV home shopping channel to get more information on something they intend to buy.
All this extra reliance on websites and catalogues means that a highly trusted delivery company will always be in demand. With many using the latest technology to ensure that deliveries are completed punctually and efficiently, the work of a modern delivery company is highly sophisticated, as befits the greater demands of business and individual customers.
