NEWS: Q4 2023 Results: 40% of website visits prompted by mail converted into online purchases

Despite continued challenging trading conditions for retailers, mail has played its part in delivering significant commercial returns for those who chose to invest their media budgets in the channel in Q4 2023.

• 5% of mail prompted a purchase in Q4 2023 - up from 4.8% in Q4 2022. These purchases reflected the shift in online shopping behaviours to ecommerce, with 3.3% of mail driving an online purchase.
• Mail plays a vital role in driving consumer action throughout the digital path-to-purchase: 8.4% of mail prompted a website visit in Q4, 4.8% an account look-up and 3.3% an online purchase. This purchase rate reflects a healthy 40% conversion rate from site visit to purchase, and at a time when performance marketing is struggling to make an impact, the role of mail in driving vital customer acquisitions calls for a significant reappraisal of the channel.
• Additional digital actions now tracked by JICMAIL reveal that mail prompts online searches (2.6% of mail), emails to advertisers (1.1%) and app download and usage (1%).
• Mail’s role in driving sales in bricks-and-mortar retail stores should not be forgotten however, with 2.3% of mail prompting an in-store purchase in Q4. Real-life brand experiences still play a highly important role for consumers in an increasingly digital world (even D2C digital brands such as Asos and Deliveroo opened up physical stores last year), and mail is equally adept at driving consumers to these experiences in the real-world as it is online.
• In the second half of 2023, just under a quarter of Direct Mail was used for cold acquisition purposes. By comparison, 88% of Door Drops reached new prospects as opposed to existing customers.
• Mail attention has stabilised on a quarterly basis, although still recorded growth year on year. The average piece of Business Mail is interacted with for well over two and half minutes across a 28 day period, compared to one minute for the average Door Drop. However, as noted in last year’s The Time We Spend With Mail study, Door Drops are the most attention efficient mail channel.
• Tesco, NHS and FarmFoods continue to command a disproportionately large share of attention compared to their share of mail volumes. They have been joined by Cotton Traders in Q4 which accounted for 7% of DM volumes, yet 10% of time spent with mail (out of the top ten mail advertisers).

Read the full press release here