STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1999--

- Direct Mail/Catalogs Offer Better Selection And More Information Than The Web

- 24% of Online Purchases Are Influenced By Direct Mail/Catalog Offerings

Catalog browsing is favored over the Internet browser for holiday purchases according to the Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) Holiday Shopping Study. The study found that U.S. consumers plan to purchase 12.5% of their holiday gifts via direct mail and catalogs this holiday season while only 6% of planned purchases will be online.

While most of U.S. consumers report that brick and mortar retail stores remain the most popular means for holiday shopping (77% of this year's purchases will be made at stores), direct mail and online shopping are growing at a rapid pace. Almost seventy percent (68%) of consumers surveyed have made catalog purchases in the past, while only 22% have placed orders over the Internet. This wide gap may stem from the finding that 57% of U.S. consumers felt more comfortable with direct mail over online purchasing (12%), and 45% thought catalogs provided better information than web sites (32%) for making gift purchase decisions.

Tim Bates, Vice President, Marketing, Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems noted, "Despite all the hype about e-purchasing during the holidays, direct mail delivers a much larger piece of holiday business. If time doesn't permit them to roam the aisles of a store, consumers enjoy perusing and buying from the myriad of catalogs they receive."

In addition, the Pitney Bowes Holiday Shopping Study revealed that direct mail and catalogs also influence what consumers purchase online. 24.5% of the respondents reported that their online purchases were prompted by product or service information first revealed in a catalog or direct mail piece.

"Internet shopping is a burgeoning industry that will continue to grow as we enter the new millennium," said Bates. "But as online shopping grows, so will catalog and direct mail volume. Surprising as it sounds, they tend to support one another."

The Pitney Bowes Holiday Shopping survey was conducted by International Communications Research (ICR) by telephone in the first week of December 1999 among 768 U.S. households who have purchased either through direct mail or online.