Special Report Matchbacks

Most matchback reports aren't any different from normal keycode results reporting. They match orders with no keycode to names from the mail tapes whose keycodes you can identify. Once the name is identified, the appropriate keycode can be assigned to each previously unknown order source, and overall results for that list can be analyzed. See Simplified Matchback Report.

Prior to the matchback, 31.4 percent of this merchant's sales were from unknown sources. After the matchback, the proportion of unknown sales was reduced to 6.7 percent. This cataloger now can make informed decisions about where to allocate funds by looking at the detailed keycode results available.

Here's what you can learn from looking at your matchback results.

1. Appropriate resource allocation by channel. When the Internet first took off, many companies thought customers eventually would stop ordering from the printed catalog and move exclusively to online ordering. And at first it appeared that the trend just might go that way as Web sales began to comprise 10 percent, then 20 percent, even 40 percent or more of total sales.

However, matchbacks have provided the proof that many catalogers needed to justify resource allocation to their marketing programs, as they show Web sales correspond directly to mailed catalogs. It's accepted now that for companies that mail a printed catalog, typically 80 percent of their Web demand is generated by their catalog mailings. One has only to look at order curves on online channels to see that online order activity peaks around catalog in-home dates.

2. Statistical significance of your results. Did you receive enough responses to statistically prove that a result isn't an anomaly but rather is representative of a pattern? Catalogers usually prefer to see at least 50 responses (orders) for a given group to say those responses are statistically significant. By performing a matchback, you increase the likelihood that groups will reach that minimum 50 responses, thereby enabling you to conclude statistically significant response patterns for each group.