Retailers reach out to online catalogues – Ad:Tech conference

Catalogue guru, Robert Wong, launches new online retail advertising network at Ad:Tech with access to over 3,000 Australian websites and 3 million shoppers every month.

 

iNC Network will allow retail catalogue owners to dramatically broaden their reach beyond print, while targeting relevant demographics. In a move that Wong describes as “turning direct marketing on its head” the Catalogue Central (CC Media) initiative encourages consumers to ID themselves through their own interests.

iNC Network buys online inventory on sites as Mumzone.com.au, ninemsn and kidspot.com.au where it places current catalogues from the major retailers targeting those consumers. In addition iNC pushes the latest in relevant catalogues to its 300,000 subscribers.

On average there are 20 catalogues ‘live’ throughout the network – 50 at peak periods such as Christmas. Sophisticated thematic maps deliver feedback to retailers about what in their current catalogue is attracting most attention. CC Media can also target geographically to ensure that grocery bargains for this week are not displayed in regions where they may not be available.

Wong (pictured) is pragmatic about the numbers of individuals who will access the online catalogues. He quotes a recent Roy Morgan research that says 57% of people aged 18-64 are interested in reading catalogues on, while 20% say they actually prefer it that way. The remaining 60% are the occasional readers who will most likely benefit from iNC.

“Of course there are 20% of people who never read catalogues, while another 20% could be described at ‘catalogue junkies’,” he said. “We used to wait for paper catalogues to arrive in the mailbox to find out about retail specials. Now customers have access to retail information anytime.”

Wong is dismissive of the lack of online commerce from leading retailers in Australia. He maintains that currently 3-4% of retail activity is online. ‘The tipping point will come for the large retailers in a few years when this reaches 8%. Then they’ll have to act.”

Meanwhile iNC gives them an opportunity to use repurpose their traditional media onto the web, at no risk. He predicts the network will grow to accessing over 4,000 sites this year with a reach of 8 million people. There are only 6.3 million deliverable households for paper catalogues in Australia.

The other major player in the online catalogue market is the Salmat owned Lasoo.com.au