BIA/Kelsey is releasing the first wave of its Consumer Commerce Monitor™ just in time for the holiday shopping rush. BIA/Kelsey and research partner Ipsos, surveyed consumers to gain insights into how local shoppers in the U.S. are likely to find, engage and transact with local businesses. More information about the survey is available in our press release, Local Consumers Likely to Flex Multi-Channel Muscle During 2013 Holiday Shopping Season, According to BIA/Kelsey, which came out yesterday.

“Our first wave of the Consumer Commerce Monitor™ survey reveals local shoppers are using a wide range of traditional and digital channels to engage with local businesses,” said Steve Marshall, Director of Research, BIA/Kelsey. “On Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, we expect local consumers will leverage all the tools at their disposal – online, mobile, social, promotions, loyalty programs and more – as they search for that special gift and hunt for great deals.”

So how will consumers be shopping online this holiday season? Consumers will be using multiple devices to shop online this year. According to the consumers surveyed, 60% will be using a laptop computer, 57% a desktop computer, 37% a smartphone, and 19.4% will be using a tablet.

According to the consumers surveyed, more than a quarter (26%) of consumer local purchases in the last six months, be it online or in-person, were made through promotions or sales, including discount deals, daily deals, coupons or similar discount offers.

Study findings will be made available for purchase in November. Email info@biakelsey.com to be notified when the study is available.

BIA/Kelsey will preview findings from Consumer Commerce Monitor™ during a free webinar on Wednesday, November 6. Register here.

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According to BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View Plus more than 43 percent, or $10.7 billion, of retail advertising dollars went to direct mail in 2012. That $10.7 billion represents 30 percent of direct mail’s total ad spending. Furthermore, BIA/Kelsey doesn’t expect that to change much by 2017, where retail is still projected to spend 43 percent, or $12.3 million, on direct mail.

2012 Retail Ad Spending by Media

So what types of retailers are spending money on direct mail? The largest spending retail specialty is warehouse clubs and supercenters, with $2.35 billion in spending on direct mail in 2012. This is more than double its closest competitor, discount department stores, which spent $1.1 billion.

What attracts retailers to direct mail over other media? According to direct mail companies, unlike ads on radio, television and newspapers, which go out to everyone in the market, direct mail can be targeted to a particular location or demographic, providing a better ROI. This could be valuable to brick-and-mortar retailers with fixed locations. Not everyone subscribes to a newspaper, watches TV, listens to the radio, or owns a computer or smartphone, but everyone gets mail.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) says that direct mail is an old-school marketing method that still works for small businesses. “Direct mail can be an effective part of any marketing campaign. Yes, email, Facebook and even Twitter work for some small businesses, but that doesn’t mean tried and true methods like direct mail should go by the wayside.”

According to BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View Plus, overall direct mail accounted for nearly $35.8 billion out of a total $132.2 billion in U.S. advertising dollars. That’s a whopping 27.1 percent of total advertising dollars, making it by far the largest media category. Newspapers, the next largest medium, accounted for 17.1 percent of total advertising dollars in 2012, followed by television in third place with 15.7 percent.

BIA/Kelsey expects this to change somewhat by 2017, with direct mail still on top with 25.1 percent of total advertising dollars, followed by television with 15.1 percent, with newspapers falling to third with 11.9 percent.

More information on Media Ad View Plus is available here.

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