Over 12 million Australians say catalogues are the most useful media for providing information on what to buy.
This is according to the latest media data from Roy Morgan Research.
Catalogues remain the number one go-to media source for groceries, clothes, toys, alcohol and cosmetics.
Almost half of Australians 14+ (49%) cite catalogues as the 'Media Most Useful' when purchasing groceries—more than double the number saying the Internet is handiest (20%).
Catalogues also have a strong advantage when it comes to consumers wanting to buy alcoholic beverages (42% vs 22% for Internet), childrenswear (40% vs 25%), toys (39% vs 31%), cosmetics and toiletries (36% vs 26%) and clothing and fashion (35% vs 28%).
Across every one of the 28 product categories, either catalogues or online rank as the most-cited 'Media Most Useful'.
In categories where catalogues win, online comes second; in all other categories, online wins.
Roy Morgan Research Media GM Tim Martin said the results might surprise some vendors.
"In a media landscape that often just assumes people are turning to the internet for information when purchasing or selecting any product, catalogues in fact lead the way for more than 12 million Australians.
"This high regard for catalogues resonates with the increase we’ve seen in overall catalogue readership over the last 12 months: 54% of Australians now read at least one catalogue during the week– up from 50% in 2013.
"This actually now puts catalogues just ahead of hard copy newspapers which, excluding community newspapers, are read by 53% of us in an average seven day period.
"Roy Morgan’s market research insights into how Australians use catalogues are used by media agencies, advertisers and leading direct marketing firms."