In Germany and across the globe, the traditional mailbox has become less relevant in recent years. Many companies switched their invoicing processes to digital, which makes sense and is environment friendly, plus makes the hardcopies redundant. Postcards are things that my kids exclusively use on vacations to greet their grandparents, who do not have smartphones to communicate. The only things that come in this analogue way nowadays are speeding fines, which luckily got less as I got older. So, my mailbox is actually empty on many days – except on the weekends.
Every Friday and Saturday, it is the same. I open the mailbox and have a pile of adverts from a diverse collection of German retailers: Grocery Stores, DIYs, Hypermarkets, Tech Retailers, Furniture Stores, Specialists, etc. In the year 2020, even with a pandemic that is accelerating the unstoppable development towards digital retail, the key driver for promotions is the good old print flyer. The Nymphenburg Group reports that just 7% of consumers have never read a flyer at all, whereas 1/3 use adverts to get inspired for their next purchase. This illustrates that adverts are still serving their important function: driving potential customers to visit the stores.
Retail 2.0 still prefers adverts 0.5. However, this “traditional” way of advertising will surely disappear into the future, or better said, go digital. For now, the traditional mailbox is a major contributor to promotional efficiency, showing that there’s life in the old dog yet!
gap intelligence has served manufacturers and sellers by providing world-class services monitoring, reporting, and analyzing the 4Ps: prices, promotions, placements, and products for more than 17 years. Earlier this year we announced our international expansion. Check out our insights on our gap intelligence GmbH LinkedIn and email us at info@gapintelligence.com to learn more.
