Catalogue growth continues apace with 600,000 more Australians now reading them than metro newspapers, according to new research.
Roy Morgan data says almost 10.5 million people look at a catalogue in an average week, compared with 9.85 million for metro newspapers and 6.2 million for community titles.
The country’s heatset web offset printers have been riding the catalogue book for some time, and will be cheered to note it shows no sign of slowing down.
[Related: More catalogue news]
Roy Morgan says the combined net weekly reach of all newspapers in the year to June 2015 is 12.3 million Australians, down from 14.6 million in 2012.
By contrast, catalogues fell from more than 11 million in 2011, to about 9.5 million in 2013, but then rallied from a 10 per cent rise since then, with all trends pointing up.
Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine says 54 per cent of Australians now read at least one catalogue a week.
“If the recent upward trend for catalogues continues, their weekly reach is heading towards the combined reach of all newspapers, including local and community papers,” she says.
Mark Hollands, chief executive of newspaper lobby group The Newspaper Works, rejects the research outright, telling Mumbrella that he doesn’t ‘see the relevance of the comparison.’
“Catalogues are a below-the-line advertising vehicle and newspapers are a media with entirely different engagement of readers across print and digital,” he says.
“The catalogue folks know this, too, which is why so many catalogues and leaflets are inserted into newspapers.”
Hollands claims most people see catalogues because they are inserted into newspapers.
“Emma data will tell you 5.3 million Australians say the last catalogue/leaflet/brochure they saw was inserted into either a magazine or newspaper,” he told Mumbrella.
However, Australian Catalogue Association executive director Kellie Northwood says the Roy Morgan survey supports a lot of other research from agencies like Nielsen and others that continues to indicate the strength of the channel.
“Roy Morgan provides some solid data surrounding currency for the industry, and adds to other data showing catalogue readership is on the increase,” she says.
“Catalogue readership grew eight per cent in the past year, making it one of the biggest rises compared to other channels.
“It is considered the media most useful for buying choices for many products, and consumers spend 26 minutes a week on average reading it, show it continues to be a very strong performing channel.”
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
