Axcess News reports that "online product research conducted by consumers the past year was responsible for driving $180.7 billion in offline spending, compared to $106.5 billion in direct online consumer spending."
It is true that while the web accounts for (on average) 10-20% of a mail order company's sales, it can account for 50% of all initial customer contact.
The report also concluded that "Internet-influenced offline spending is now growing faster than direct online spending. Internet-influenced offline sales grew 31% last year and direct online sales grew 14%, while total U.S. retail spending grew only 5% during the comparable period."
