Last updated on January 10, 2023

Every business is always on the quest to get a high number of customers. To achieve this objective, they mostly use flyers to promote their products or services and communicate their brand story.

Traditionally, a flyer or flier was a piece of paper printed with visuals, words, or both, that was distributed to people to sell or advertise something. As the digital space evolved, flyers aren’t relegated to being passed around on the street on a piece of paper, but can be attached to emails, posted on social media, plastered on websites, etc.

While most businesses now use social media platforms, websites and email marketing to convey information, one of the oldest marketing methods, the humble flyer, is just as strong as ever and shouldn’t be dismissed. So, Caddle wanted to know if the flyer has a promising future.

Keeping this in mind Caddle asked our Daily Survey Panel of 3,280 Canadians about their thoughts on the role of flyers in their shopping experience. 

Do Flyers Help you Plan your Shopping Trip?

When asked “how often do you use flyers to plan where you shop?”Almost 64% of Canadians said they use it often, revealing that the core role of the flyers remains the same – driving traffic. Further, flyers also help businesses drive revenue, as 60% of Canadians buy products after seeing them in-store flyers.

People usually read what is around them, whether consciously or unconsciously, no matter where they are and in this way, flyers convey the message to potential customers. When diving deep into the demographics, Caddle discovered that 69% of baby boomers use flyers to plan where to shop (vs. 62% of millennials). 

Digital VS Print Flyers?

There was a time when print advertising reigned supreme. Businesses would plaster print flyers and brochures everywhere, hoping that someone would see them. But with the advent of the internet, things changed dramatically. Suddenly businesses had a new way to reach out to customers–through digital advertising.

Caddle discovered that 55% of Canadians have used digital flyers from Grocery stores. Further grocery retailers have seen the highest conversion of 92% in the past 6 months, followed by drug stores at 72% & home improvement retailers at 55%. 

Is the Future Digital?

Thanks to the flexibility of digital advertising, flyers can now be customized to meet the specific needs of various businesses and grab the attention of the audience quickly through its targeting capabilities

When asked if Canadians prefer using paper/printed store flyers or digital store flyers, 40% of Canadians surveyed responded they prefer digital store flyers while 32% of them prefer paper/printed store flyers. When diving into the demographics, Caddle discovered that 50% of millennials compared to 31% of boomers,  prefer digital store flyers.  Further, 35% of Atlantic Canada compared to 45% of BC,  prefer digital store flyers.

Flyers still offer plenty of benefits even in the digital age, but what is the future of this marketing practice? We think that flyer distribution will continue to be as effective as it always has been, but that doesn’t mean it can’t adapt. Making flyers digital can allow businesses to display QR codes which can be used to make instant online purchases and also offer email sign-up options. 

Main Takeaways

No.1 |

Most Canadians (64%) use flyers often when planning where to shop. 

No.2 |

When using digital flyers grocery stores saw the highest conversion rate of 92% in the past 6 months.

No.3 |

Canadians are split between Digital VS Printed flyers as 40% of Canadians surveyed responded they prefer digital store flyers while 32% of them prefer paper/printed store flyers.

Liked what you just read? Caddle has a lot more to offer, check out our blog on Shift in Consumer Purchase Behaviour or Canadians shift to Frozen Produce

*Disclaimer: all data presented is owned by Caddle and has a Margin of Error of 1% or lower.

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