Direct Mail--A Moving Target

The Lehigh Press' Frick sees e-commerce as a largely complementary marketing channel, rather than one that threatens the viability of direct mail as a medium.

"The digital revolution in the 21st century is going to be as important as electricity has been in the 20th century," Frick says. "It's just impossible to overstate the importance of the development of the Internet and digital communications. Direct marketing has augmented and proved to be highly complementary to the retail channel. FM radio didn't drive away AM radio, it simply created change. E-commerce will be a third channel, just as direct marketing has been an excellent second channel to retail."