Wednesday, September 24, 2025

IDH Industry Report 2025: Digital Leaflet Portals Secure Top Spot in the Marketing Mix – Print Continues to Lose Importance

The Initiative for Digital Retail Communication (IDH) has published its fifth Industry Report. The conclusion is clear: Digital leaflet portals remain the undisputed No. 1 in retail marketing in 2025 – leading in advertising effectiveness (86%), return on investment (82%), and cost efficiency (86%).

Marketing budgets are evolving accordingly: For the fifth year in a row, digital budgets are growing by more than 20 percent. Freed-up funds from the decline in traditional print advertising are being redirected into digital channels – ranging from social media and video advertising to company apps.

Print Loses Further Ground

91 percent of respondents consider print leaflets fully or at least partially replaceable. The main reasons are changing media usage behavior and rising production and distribution costs. Already 55 percent of companies plan a significant reduction, while 11 percent intend to abandon print leaflets entirely.

Key Challenges

The biggest hurdle for retail remains weak consumer sentiment (64%), followed by the transformation of retail communication (38%), ongoing digitalization (30%), and global economic uncertainty (28%).

Efficiency in Focus

For marketing executives, a mix of advertising impact, reach, efficiency, and measurability is key. Cost factors in particular are gaining importance – 98 percent of decision-makers now see them as central to their channel choices.

Industry Voices

• Christoph Eck-Schmidt (Bonial): “Advertising must deliver more than ever – with reach, transparency, and measurable success. Digital channels meet these requirements best.”
• Patrick Dainese (marktguru): “Consumers are already seeking inspiration online – budgets are following this trend.”
• Stefan Bien (Shopfully): “Whether online or offline, today the search for deals happens on smartphones.”

The report clearly shows: The future of retail marketing is digital – with leaflet portals driving the strongest impact in the marketing mix.