How Catalogs Drive Your Business

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/article/how-catalogs-drive-your-business/1

The printed catalog is the main driver of traffic to the web. However, with all of the other touchpoints available to consumers today, how do we really know the impact of catalog mailings on web sales? And why do we give so much credit to the print catalog? 
While the internet has become the preferred way to place an order, consumers still prefer to shop from a print catalog. That's why it's important to understand the difference between sales that come through the web vs. sales that are generated from the web. Catalogers frequently say that more than 70 percent of their business is coming from the web. What they really mean is that 70 percent of their orders are coming through the web, not from the web. Perhaps 15 percent to 20 percent of their orders are coming from the web; the majority of their orders that came over the web were driven by a print catalog.