Multi-Channel Marketing Flexes Its Muscle

Originally Published: February 2005

Multi-channel marketing, or cross-channel selling, is the act of promoting sales via a website, mail order catalog and brick and mortar store all at the same time. In our increasingly fast-paced world, multi-channel marketing has established a strong foothold by offering consumers multiple touch points. Not only does this type of marketing offer consumers more options on where to purchase products, but it also offers consumers access to multiple outlets or resources from which they can gather purchase decision-making information. But most of all, it enhances convenience – consumers can gather information, shop for the best deal and purchase when and where they choose.

A recent study conducted by DoubleClick reports that 57% of multi-channel shoppers browse in one channel and buy in another rather than browsing and buying in one channel. While a study by ForeSee Results and FGI Research showed that 86% of multi-channel shoppers still make their purchase in a traditional brick and mortar store, the study showed that before making the in-store purchase, 38% (83.4 million U.S. consumers according to eMarketer) conducted online research before buying. This percentage was nearly the same as the 41% who researched products in a store before buying in the same or different store. Of those that conduct online research prior to making a brick and mortar store purchase, 46% used a search engine as the starting point for their online search, while 39% navigated directly to a retail website to begin their research according to ForeSee Results and FGI Research.

According to the DoubleClick survey that revealed 57% of consumers browse one sales channel and then purchase in another, the largest percentage of shoppers researched online and then purchased in a brick and mortar store. The second highest percentage was consumers who shopped a catalog and then bought in a store. Following up next were consumers who browsed a store and then bought online and those that shopped a catalog and then purchased online. The percentages look like this:

- 43% researched online before making an in-store purchase
- 19% researched a catalog before making an in-store purchase
- 16% browsed a store and then bought online
- 11% researched a catalog and then bought online

At the late January 2005 Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) expo, the Association revealed the results of a recent CBA survey. The survey revealed that, on average, bookseller sales increased four-fold when customers were offered a brick and mortar store, website and catalog combination. Bruce Anderson, an attendee at the conference who operates a store, website and catalog, backed up the benefits of multi-channel marketing by stating that every month in which he mails a sales catalog, his in-store sales increase by an average of 40% for that month.

As more companies offer consumers access to a greater array of outlets for gathering information and making purchases, customers are responding by increasing their purchasing volume. It is not uncommon for a consumer to receive a catalog in the mail, find a product they like, visit the company website for more information, search for product reviews at a third party website and then find the best deal and make the purchase at the original or yet another retail website. It is much easier to switch from one website to another than it is to drive across a city to shop different retail stores or search through twenty catalogs trying to compare prices. On the other hand, the consumer may wish to touch and feel the product before purchasing, and thus will take the information mined online and visit various retail brick and mortar stores to find the best price and make the purchase.

In the age of finicky, time-crunched shoppers, it is important to get as much decision-making information in their hands as quickly and easily as possible. As such, companies need to develop multiple sales channels to make it easier for customers to research and purchase their products. Technology has opened up a host of information opportunities for consumers, and they are taking full advantage. They are rewarding those companies that invest in technology innovations that save the consumer time and effort in acquiring purchase decision-making information, as well as providing alternative sales channels. The reward comes in the form of increased sales. It is also important to invest in building a strong brand to help resist the temptation of consumers to switch to a different brand, surf to a different website or select another brick and mortar store. A strong brand helps insulate you against the competition while technology-driven information resources and multiple sales channels grease the skids to increase sales volume. Are you effectively using technology to provide multiple information and sales channels to keep your products in front of potential customers and capture your fair share of their purchasing dollar?