Cost-cutting Tips You Can Take to the Bank

(Note: This assumes the weight requirement does not change.)

FIVE

Paper Weight and Separate Covers

Test lighter weight papers. Test self-covers vs. a heavier separate cover. A move to a slightly lighter basis weight paper should have no impact on your results. Paper is sold by the pound. If you use fewer pounds, you may save money. You certainly can save money on postage by using lighter weight paper, provided your catalog mails at the pound rate.

A simple change from a 34 lb, No. 5 basis weight to a 32 lb, No. 5 basis weight will save approximately $12,000 in postage on a mailing of 1 million, 80-page catalogs.

SIX

Use a Lower Grade of Paper

Changing grades can have a similar effect to changing the basis weight of paper. Just be careful not to go to extremes. Test a No. 5 grade, for example, against a No. 4 or No. 3 grade. Unless your offer is extremely upscale, a slight reduction in the grade of paper you use can reduce your direct selling expenses and ratio.

SEVEN

Zip + 4 and Carrier Coding

If you say you’ll be dropping non-codeable records with your list order as a requirement, you can deduct these names from the list rental invoice. Noncodeable records don’t qualify for postal discounts and generally are less deliverable and therefore, less responsive. Also, make sure your list rentals and housefile have been put through National Change of Address (NCOA) recently.

EIGHT

A/B Split Tests

If you do any split tests, look at the net benefit of selective binding to keep the mailing in one ZIP code stream to maximize your postal discount as opposed to separate ZIP streams, which are more costly. Generally at quantities of 300,000 or more, it’s more cost-efficient to selective bind.