In a recent report by Multichannel Merchant, research shows that online research, including both computer and mobile phone based, continues to influence offline purchases. Research analysts like Forrester Research believe that up to 54% of in-store purchases will be influenced by online research by 2014. At RevTrax, we believe that that number is actually higher when retailers, restaurants and manufacturers actually leverage the web to DRIVE sales offline via traditional direct marketing methods like coupons and gift card incentives. When advertisers move beyond simply trying to measure the overflow of online to offline and actually start putting serious dollars behind web marketing to specifically drive offline sales at the register, or at best multi-channel sales both in-store and online, that’s when the impact become less abstract and more compelling.
