“Flick to Click” new shopping trend

British consumers are using offline catalogues to search for products, before logging on to buy them, found a new report by Experian.

by Helen Leggatt

experian%20logo.jpg Over 1,500 British consumers were surveyed for Experian’s poll, the results of which will be good news for businesses that have integrated their off- and online marketing efforts.

Seventy percent of those polled had shopped from home in the last year. Of those, 80 percent had gone online to order a product they had found in an offline catalogue.

“The days of brands using an 'either/or' communications strategy are well and truly over. It's critical that companies blend their online and offline capabilities to achieve long-term growth,” said Mark Peacock, home shopping consultant with Experian Integrated Marketing.

The convenience of shopping from home (63 percent) was the major reason cited for the rise in “flick to click” activity followed by access to high quality goods (37 percent).

Experian’s research should serve as a “major wake-up call for brands still thinking about using integrated marketing techniques, simply because it works and consumers are embracing the mix of old and new media”, added Peacock.