Day Of Week

In recent Multichannel Forensics projects, there has been a increased focus on understanding the days that online buyers purchase merchandise.

Here's what you might want to pay attention to.

1. Customers who order over the telephone in the first two weeks following a catalog in-home date (or first two days following an e-mail in-home date) are dependent upon advertising.
2. Customers who order online, and order in the first two weeks following a catalog in-home date (or first two days following an e-mail in-home date) are probably dependent upon advertising.
3. Customers who order online, and order during "dead periods", when no catalog or e-mail campaign is active, are "organic" customers, customers likely to purchase in the future without the aid of advertising.

Pay really close attention to scenario #3, folks, as you can save a lot of expense here without compromising sales levels.

These days, I code every day of the year, based on whether that day is a "traditional direct marketing day" or whether it is an "organic day". Customers ordering on "organic days" are less likely to need advertising to fuel future purchases than are all other customers.

Demand that your matchback vendor provide you with visibility into this phenomenon.