Key takeaway: A sporting goods retailer’s holiday-season Valpak direct mail campaign generated $4.16 million in incremental sales and a 35.26X incremental return on ad spend (iROAS), according to an independent test-vs-control study by ABCS Insights. Households that received a single mailing spent 24.57% more with the retailer than a matched control group, and made 12.25% more store visits.
Most campaigns move one number. This one moved all of them: more households bought, they spent more per trip, and more of them walked through the door. The mailing landed once. The lift showed up everywhere.
Sporting Goods Campaign Results at a Glance
| Metric | Result |
| Incremental ROAS | 35.26X ($35.26 in sales per $1 invested) |
| Incremental sales | $4.16 million |
| Incremental purchases | 74,124 |
| Average sales per household | +24.57% vs. control (9.8X the retailer norm of 2.51%) |
| Household penetration | +13.86% vs. control (6.9X the retailer norm of 2.00%) |
| Sales per buying occasion | +8.12% vs. control (retailer norm: 0.33%) |
| Store visits per consumer | +12.25% vs. control (retailer norm: 2.85%) |
| Store visitors | +9.30% vs. control (retailer norm: 1.95%) |
| Incremental store visits | 190,201 |
| Cost per incremental visitor | $1.25 |
| Households reached | More than 9 million, one drop (frequency of 1) |
How Was the Campaign Measured?
ABCS Insights compared households that received the mailing against a matched control group that didn’t. The two groups were balanced on a full year of pre-campaign category purchases, plus age, gender, household income and geography, so the difference between them reflects the mailing rather than who was already a customer.
The study measured two things. Sales were tracked through a receipt panel of 926,788 households. Store visits were tracked separately across 1,148,238 consumers. The campaign ran through the holidays into mid-January, and measurement continued about four weeks past its end to catch shoppers who held onto the offer.
Return on ad spend was calculated against total campaign investment.
Bigger Baskets and More Households
In our QSR case study, the lift came almost entirely from new households, while spend per visit stayed flat. This retailer got both.
Household penetration rose 13.86%, nearly 7X the retailer norm, so more households bought at all. Sales per buying occasion rose 8.12%, against a norm of 0.33%, so the households that did buy put more in the cart. Stack those together and average sales per household climbed 24.57%, almost 10 times what retail campaigns typically produce.
For a specialty retailer, that combination matters. Winning a shopper who would have bought running shoes or a home gym somewhere else, then getting them to add a second item, is exactly the kind of sale a coupon in the home is built to influence.
Does Direct Mail Drive Store Foot Traffic?
Receipts show what people bought. Visits show whether the mailing got them into the store, and here the answer was clear. Consumers who received the campaign made 12.25% more store visits than the control group, more than 4X the retailer foot traffic norm of 2.85%. The share of consumers who visited at all rose 9.30%.
Across the reached audience, that came to 190,201 incremental store visits and 94,195 incremental visitors. Every one of them was a chance to sell something beyond the offer in the envelope.
What Is Cost per Incremental Visitor?
Cost per incremental visitor (CPIV) divides campaign spend by the number of extra people who visited because of the campaign, measured against a control group. It’s the in-store equivalent of incremental ROAS: it ignores shoppers who would have come anyway and counts only the ones the campaign brought in.
This campaign’s CPIV was $1.25. For a retailer whose average buying occasion ran more than $50 in the study, that is a short path to payback.
Why Do Retail Offers Work in the Mailbox?
Valpak households spend:
- 26% more on sporting goods
- 20% more on clothing and footwear
- 17% more across all retail categories
Valpak coupon users are also:
- 221% more likely to belong to a specialty fitness club
- 205% more likely to belong to a recreational sports league
- 101% more likely to shop for retail goods at least twice a week
- 47% more likely to belong to a fitness club or gym
These are the shoppers a sporting goods retailer is already trying to reach. They join leagues, train at gyms and studios, and spend more than average on gear and apparel. They also shop retail often, which helps explain why a single mailing turned into 12.25% more store visits.
Timing helps too. A retail offer that arrives in late December reaches households just as they’re deciding what to do with gift cards, holiday cash and New Year’s resolutions. It doesn’t compete for attention on a screen. It sits on the counter until the trip happens.
What Retail Marketers Can Take from This
- One drop can carry the season. Households received this mailing once on average and still produced a 24.57% sales lift. Frequency helps, but the right offer at the right moment does a lot of the work.
- Measure the trip and the receipt. Sales data shows what was bought. Foot traffic data shows how many people the campaign brought in, which is the number store operations and leasing teams care about.
- Look past the coupon. Sales per buying occasion rose 8.12%, meaning shoppers bought more than the offer itself. Plan merchandising and staffing for the extra traffic a mail drop brings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What return on ad spend did the sporting goods retailer get from Valpak?
The retailer earned a 35.26X incremental ROAS, or $35.26 in sales for every $1 invested, from a single Valpak direct mail drop during the holiday and New Year season, measured by ABCS Insights.
Does direct mail increase retail store foot traffic?
In this study, yes. Consumers who received the mailing made 12.25% more store visits than a matched control group, 9.30% more of them visited a store, and the campaign drove 190,201 incremental visits.
What is cost per incremental visitor?
Cost per incremental visitor (CPIV) is campaign spend divided by the number of additional people who visited a store because of the campaign, compared with a control group. This campaign’s CPIV was $1.25.
How was the campaign measured?
ABCS Insights compared households that received the mailing with a matched control group, balanced on a year of pre-campaign category purchases and demographics. Sales were tracked through a receipt panel of 926,788 households and store visits through a panel of 1,148,238 consumers.
Can a single direct mail drop drive a sales lift?
Yes. Households in this study received the mailing once on average, and they still spent 24.57% more with the retailer than a matched control group, nearly 10X the retailer norm.
Is direct mail effective for sporting goods retailers?
In this study, a sporting goods retailer grew household penetration by 13.86%, sales per buying occasion by 8.12% and store visits by 12.25% versus a matched control group, returning $35.26 in incremental sales for every $1 invested.
Sources
- ABCS Insights, Valpak Sporting Goods Retailer Sales Effect and Foot Traffic Report (Sept. 2026). Test vs. matched control, matched on 12 months of pre-period category sales and demographics. Holiday 2025–26 campaign; measured approximately four weeks past campaign end. 9M+ households reached; frequency 1.0. Sales: N=926,788 households (receipt panel). Foot traffic: N=1,148,238. Norms: ABCS Retailer and Retailer Foot Traffic. Average sales per household lift significant at 99% confidence.
- Claritas data with current year projections, October 2026
- 2026 AudienceSCAN® study of U.S. online adults 18+, SalesFuel, Inc.
