Buying data to append to your housefile can seem like a risk. How can you be sure that your investment will pay off? And perhaps more importantly, how can you be sure youโre not squandering your IT departmentโs limited time in uploading the appended data? Your answers to these questions will depend on how you plan to use the data you buy. Some data purchases, such as National Change of Address, have a clear and measurable return on investment (ROI). You can directly account for the expense of the data purchase and upload, then compare that expense to the new or additional revenue
B-to-B
Adding targeted product groupings that give your business customers more for less, or that present solutions to their needs, certainly will boost your catalogโs revenue base. Product bundles and kits easily fit that bill. An example of a bundle offer for a consumer catalog: A cookware catalog that sells kitchen knives could sell a paring knife and a filet knife but offer both together at a modest discount. A kit differs from a product bundle in that it ultimately marries products that will complement one another under one SKU and gets the customer to an end goal of some sort. Keeping with the
The Home Shopping Network, QVC, ShopNBC -- cable television is finding a new audience, and itโs not limited to jewelry buyers paying in installments. Business-to-business catalogers are making their entrance on the small screen. Electronics, printers, cleaning supplies, tools, office supplies and even food gifts are enjoying a bit of sweetness in their sales. One tip before plunging into cable: Ask the producers about who owns the transaction data, and get information about the channelโs typical buyers. J. Schmid& Assoc. (www.jschmid.com) is a catalog consultancy based in Mission, Kan., (913) 236-8988.
Particularly challenging in todayโs business-to-business (b-to-b) catalog environment is testing new ideas that can have a positive impact on future revenues and profits. And if you have a big, perfect-bound catalog, effective testing can be even more problematic. But you have alternatives that can help you present new merchandise and offers or target a special message to a specific customer segment. In Your Creative While consumer catalogs have used order-form changes to test offers, messages and even products, b-to-b catalogs โ with their more common single page, back-of-the-book order form โ usually must find other ways to test new ideas. It might
quare inch analysis (SQUINCH) is an extraordinary tool for consumer and business catalogers alike. Sorted and executed the right way, a comprehensive SQUINCH can serve as a creative road map to your catalog campaigns, just as your contact strategy defines the plan from a marketing perspective. A comprehensive square inch analysis allows you to evaluate product sales and placement to determine whether the right product, price point or category is given the appropriate amount of space in the right location in your catalog. And by basing the analysis on customer behavior, as culled through transactional data, you can keep your โgut feelingโ from being
Many business-to-business (b-to-b) catalogers fail to periodically refresh their creative elements and end up making common mistakes in copywriting, photography, layout and design. To discern if youโre guilty of stale or ineffectual catalog creative, ask yourself the following questions. โAm I employing copy thatโs appropriate for b-to-b customers in particular?โ โB-to-b products tend to be more practical because theyโre meant to help customers solve business problems,โ says Sarah Fletcher, president of Charlestown, R.I.-based Catalog Design Studios, a catalog consultancy. You canโt sell on emotion in a b-to-b catalog like you can in a consumer catalog, she continues. Gina Valentino, vice president and general manager
For Edward Don & Co., supplying โeverything but the foodโ has long been its motto. The foodservice equipment supplier sells its customers, including Applebeeโs Restaurants and the Opryland Hotel, a range of items, from serving glasses, plates and napkins, to kitchen utensils, stoves and fryers. While those clients enjoy browsing their โDonโ catalogs for the latest trends in how to use a martini glass to serve chocolate mousse, the same restaurant managers arenโt likely to buy a new $10,000 refrigerator unit off the page of a catalog. So Donโs 11 business-to-business (b-to-b) catalog titles always will be an integral part of the
One of the most common merchandising questions from business-to-business (b-to-b) catalogers is how to increase sales (or profits) from static product lines. Often, b-to-b merchandising teams are at the mercy of a manufacturerโs research and development budgets, as well as the timely release of new product introductions. How can you keep revenues from becoming just as static as the product line? Following are some answers to that question: 1. Modify the packaging. When the product itself remains constant, change the packaging. For example, try stackable boxes with preprinted labels so that when placed on shelves, the information is easily seen. Perhaps the
Four critical components can help you create business-to-business (b-to-b) circulation strategies that measure up. While each may not apply to all b-to-b catalogers, they are: a goal, a tracking plan, good metrics and benchmarks, and buy-in. A catalogerโs ultimate goal is to establish a driving force behind a successful contact strategy. Are you striving to grow the buyer file, generate more leads, increase profits or drive up revenues? Each will have a different path. Housefile growth typically means youโll prospect more, focus more on inquiry conversions and be more aggressive with reactivation strategies. You also may try new acquisition methods such as space ads,
The primary function of your catalog is, of course, to sell merchandise. This goal supersedes any individual opinions about aesthetics. Successful creative strategies donโt necessitate a subjective discussion. What works is what sells. While there isnโt one secret formula for success, here are five tactics that can help guide your creative decisions. 1. Foster a dependent relationship among your creative, marketing and merchandising teams. Give your creative team the tools it needs to develop a catalog that sells merchandise. Such tools include information gleaned from a square inch analysis and marketing promotions, as well as any merchandising changes such as new items,