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Viewing report
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Home Shopping Market Report 2003
Key Note Publications Ltd, July 2003
The home shopping market in the UK was worth £22.34bn in 2002. In the past year it grew by 16.2% and this growth looks set to continue in the next few years. Growth has been particularly strong in the electronic home shopping market, which includes the Internet.
The home shopping market covers traditional catalogue retailers, which remains the strongest sector of the market, although its dominance is weakening due to the increase in electronic shopping. The market also comprises direct selling (door-to-door and party plan) and direct marketing (selling off-the-page through newspapers and inserts, as well as direct mail shots), which is rising as more companies begin to sell in this way and direct marketing techniques become even more sophisticated.
The total market has grown steadily due to consumer confidence across the board and an increase in the variety of shopping opportunities from home. The industry has opened itself up to a new generation of home shoppers, through the Internet, interactive digital television and directly marketed niche catalogues. The emergence of high-street retailers and supermarkets into the home shopping arena has bolstered the market and broadened its appeal.
Multi-channel selling is now a common phenomenon across the retail world, with high-street retailers running transactional websites and mail-order companies offering their catalogues and products over the Internet. Niche catalogues have attracted new customers and are now becoming more popular than the traditional `big book' agency catalogues. Growth has slowed in the direct selling market, with door-to-door sales, in particular, losing favour with consumers. Direct marketing companies are having to work even harder to see returns on their direct mail shots, as this sector becomes increasingly saturated. However, marketing techniques and database usage continue to be improved and this bodes well for the future of the sector.
Over the next 4 years it is estimated that the e-commerce market will overtake the mail-order sector as the dominant home shopping channel within the UK. The future of the overall market depends increasingly on the success of major high-street retailers and supermarkets, as their presence in the market continues to grow. Overall, the home shopping market looks set to grow steadily over the next few years, with e-commerce and niche catalogues in particular fuelling this growth. However, the market is likely to be an early casualty within the UK retail scene if an economic downturn occurs.
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