Australia has been the number one promotionally-driven retail market in the world for some time, followed by New Zealand as the number two placegetter. A new study from ShopFully, the leading European tech company in Drive to Stores by country, active users and partners, in collaboration with Nielsen Media Analytics, confirms that the longstanding habit of chasing the best deals is as strong as ever.
The commissioned study reveals that the percentage of Aussie shoppers scoping catalogues to find promotions and deals has risen 5 percentage points over the past year to 68 per cent.
Internet research is the number one source of information for would-be buyers (57%), closely followed by digital catalogues (46%). The ShopFully research confirms that catalogues are a must-have for retailers looking to drive customers in-store with 45 per cent of those surveyed using them to plan and organise shopping lists ahead of time.
Leading beauty retailers such as Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and David Jones with its Jones magazine are all well to the fore in the production of sophisticated and informative catalogues and magazines.
ShopFully reports that in the health and beauty retail category, over 21 per cent of Australian shoppers have headed to stores after browsing through a digital catalogue following an average of 8 minutes of browsing.
The shift to digital catalogues has accelerated, says ShopFully, with two in three Australians surveyed looking at them at least once a week. Convenience (48%) and environmental friendliness (42%) were the top two reasons for choosing digital over printed formats.
Bricks and mortar retail was given a major thumbs-up with 98 per cent of respondents making in-store purchases. More than half of those surveyed (55%) said they viewed brands and retailers as more trustworthy if they had a physical storefront.
Catalogues continue to be a go-to for three-quarters of the nation when they are deciding what to purchase, with readers spending 8.3 minutes per week browsing through retailers’ specials, says Dean Vocisano, Country Manager for ShopFully Australia. “Interestingly, Gen Z and Millennials are turning to digital catalogues the most, reading them 2.8 and 2.6 times per week, respectively, whch dispels any generational stereotypes about consumption.”
To discover more about the research and how ShopFully is working with Australian retailers and brands to drive traffic in-store – go to https://corporate.shopfully.com.