ECRM: Retail circular advertising trends, May 2014

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in May 2013 versus May 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Walmart experienced a 90.1% increase in ads per circular, largely due to a reduction in the number of circulars from 10 in May 2013 to six in May 2014. Despite this decrease, overall page count remained fairly stable. These fewer, lengthier circulars were the result of an increased willingness to promote a number of categories within one circular. Eight of last May’s 10 circulars consisted of four pages or fewer. This May’s minimum circular size was six pages. The larger Walmart circulars consisted of 14-32 pages each.

Lowe’s was the only retailer to see large increases in every metric, although somewhat less so than last month. For now, the two home improvement retailers appear to have stabilized at nine ads per page. As reported in previous months, Lowe’s continued to increase its page count, while Home Depot has cut back significantly, running only two circulars this May as opposed to last May’s four.

About ECRM’s Business Intelligence:

ECRM’s Ad Comparisons technology captures promotional data from the top U.S. and Canadian retailers in all major markets. Ad Comparisons captures more than 40 metrics for each ad block and provides hundreds of analytic reports to put the advertising data in context. Ad Comparisons takes an individual approach to ensure all data and reports fit the needs of each user.