Print media still key to grocery sales success

If you thought that digital marketing would decrease the number of printed circulars received from supermarkets, you'd be wrong.

When Valassis polled 60 leading decision makers from more than 50 national and independent grocery stores across the U.S. they found that print circulars remain the most popular and most-used method of promotion among almost all (90%).

Fifty percent said print circulars helped to increase sales while 25% said the print communications helped increase customer retention.

In fact, print media, including weekly newspaper inserts, shared mail and direct mail (solo), ranked above Internet, email, television and radio. Mobile as a promotional platform ranked last.

Whether print continues to be the medium of choice remains to be seen. Two-thirds of respondents felt that social and online activity will need to be increased over the coming years if they are to meet sales goals. Marketing tactics are already changing - the decrease in print newspaper circulation has seen more marketing dollars going to mail-delivered and online promotions.

"The consumer decision-making journey is more involved than ever," said Therese Mulvey, vice president, marketing intelligence for Valassis. "Media preferences are changing, due in great part to consumers' desire to be connected. It is no longer a 'how we use print versus digital' question. It is a 'how do we best optimize our marketing dollars to maximize the ROI on both.'"

Tags: digital marketing, grocery store, marketing intelligence, print media, promotional channel, supermarket, survey