7 in 10 Say Print is Critical to Retail Strategy

[responsive]nielsenresearch[/responsive]With all the choices now in how to advertise to consumers, it’s not surprising that retailers have adopted a multi-channel approach. Leveraging digital touch points in the sales cycle makes sense for anyone doing business is this connected age.

Yet what might surprise you is how many retailers in this country still count heavily on traditional print media. Research from Nielsen shows us that this is indeed the case.

“The Nielsen survey shows that print is an essential part of this strategy and that retailers can’t and will not do without print,” says Ulbe Jelluma in PrintPower.

“In the USA for example, print has a higher reach than digital which implies that retailers have to balance the use of both. More than half of all US shoppers use print at least once a week to seek product and sales information. This is 20 points higher than the next-closest digital touch point, emails,” Jelluma continues.

We see evidence of this in our own work, as catalogs have become a new marketing “must have” for many niche and high-end retailers, and more brands turn to print magazines for ad space.

Pair that with a general consumer dislike of digital ads, and you can see why print remains critical to the retail industry.

So while the number of touch points continues to grow, and advertisers must be savvy to the ways their consumers prefer to be reached, nearly seven in 10 retailers believe that “print marketing is more important than digital,” Jelluma notes.

Clearly, to reach today’s empowered consumers, print remains a vital component in your overall strategy.