Using credit cards for improved direct marketing

The growth in retailer‐sourced direct mail between 1984 and 1985 was 26 per cent. However, our contributor claims that retailers could still do a great deal more in terms of direct marketing. The secret, he claims, lies in the imaginative use of retailer credit cards. They offer a perfect opportunity to harness the major advantage of direct marketing: that of being able to target precise personal communications to customers already sympathetic to and financially connected with the retailer.