When it comes to shopping for the holidays, or any time of year, consumers prefer the hands-on experience of glossy print catalogs over their online counterparts and social media. Not surprising, given print’s enhanced ability to cause deeper emotional resonance that digital content. Who doesn’t remember poring over the JC Penney catalog and cutting out your favorites?
BizReport’s Helen Leggatt writes about two separate reports that demonstrate the importance of printed catalogs to both online and offline retailers in her article “Consumers prefer glossy print catalogs to social media as shopping info source.”
According to Leggatt, a U.S. survey by Baynote and The E-Tailing Group found that “glossy, branded print catalogs influence shoppers looking to make an on- or offline purchase more than social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, or mobile ads.”
While online reviews and ratings were the most influential source of purchasing information (33% of those surveyed chose this as their preference), printed catalogs were favored by 22% of online shoppers and 21% percent of offline buyers, according to Leggatt.
A second survey, this one from Australia, found that printed catalogs were vastly preferred over online content, with 70% of respondents saying print was their go-to when researching purchases.
This is important news for catalog publishers who may be wondering if they need to invest more highly in social media and online catalogs. With just 126 shopping days until Christmas, it’s clearly time to get those catalogs on the press.