WebProNews

It's hard to know how the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) didn't guess what it was getting into; contacting retailers isn't the same as talking to random people on the street.  Still, a new study from the DMA revealed the interesting fact that 41 percent of its survey's respondents don't have brick-and-mortar stores.

Only 101 retailers participated in the study, so again, we're not holding these stats up as a representation of everything, everywhere.  But as another intriguing tidbit, Jack Loechner reports, "Brick-and-mortar stores (20 percent) and websites (22 percent) produced the highest level of revenue in 2007."

Also, a DMA statement pegs websites as the "most consistently used direct marketing channel," while email and direct mail are also popular.

All reservations aside, then, these findings make things look pretty good for the online world.  And although we're far from hoping for any economic disasters, the outlook might get even better in a recession (with a lack of overheard and no driving required).

The DMA doesn't delve too far into either predictions or historical data, but as with all Web stuff, we should remember that everything started at "zero" not too long ago.  Future increases in store-less retailers and website marketing seem likely as a result.