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Why are customers reconsidering online shopping?
In late 2013, when droves of shoppers were going online to steal deals and wrap up holiday shopping - no pun intended - someone else was also standing at the ready: cyber intruders.
The Los Angeles Times confirms that Target, one of the world's largest retailers, was hit with a major cyber attack during two weeks of high traffic shopping, and as a result, the information of an estimated 110 million customers was compromised, including credit card information and names, as well as home and email addresses.
Online shopping on the decline
Following the intrusion, which was one of the more significant cyber stories of the year, many customers are questioning the security of online shopping. In a survey jointly conducted by the Associated Press and German-based Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung, better known as GfK, research revealed that more than 60 percent of customers now admit to having deep concerns about making online purchases.
This growing aversion to online shopping may mark the beginning of a shift Ford predicted in their annual customer trend report in 2013, which postulated that consumers are growing weary of the mass assimilation of technology in their daily lives. Ford's researchers wrote that shoppers were longing for more nostalgic products and advertising experiences and would begin to act on those feelings in 2014 and beyond. Target's cyber intrusion may not mean the end of online shopping, but it may act as the catalyst driving more shoppers offline, pushing them to reconnect with the brands and practices of their past, such as direct mail.
Why direct mail?
Direct mail has remained an effective and widely-used marketing tool for decades. However, in recent years the method's usage has experienced a slight dip with advertisers choosing to explore newer, digital options instead. Considering Ford's report and the fallout from one of the U.S.'s largest online attacks, customers seem to be shying away from online marketplaces in favor of a more authentic shopping experience, and that extends to advertising.
Direct mail is targeted, it's personal and it teams well with a wide variety of marketing formats, including social media and mobile, but above all else, what makes direct mail unmatched in many ways is its tangibility. People can see and touch and smell and even taste an advertisement sent via direct mail, allowing customers to revel in nostalgia while also providing them information worthy of the modern age.
To ensure the safe and secure delivery of all promotional materials, companies can invest in mailing software, which helps to optimize all postal operations by automating a number of the more labor-intensive processes.
