Catalog Circulation
March 1, 2016 at 11:43 am
Wayfair, the online retailer that wants to revolutionize how people buy sofas and other home goods, took a more traditional step Monday, unveiling an old-fashioned paper catalog that will soon land in mailboxes. The Boston-based retailer said the 92-page catalog will help heighten brand awareness, while showcasing nearly 800 items, a tiny percentage of the…
February 3, 2016 at 3:50 pm
The question is as old as the internet itself: Can’t internet marketing simply replace the expense of printed catalogs? The answer remains an emphatic no. Here are some reasons why internet markting can’t replace the expense of printed catalogs:
February 2, 2016 at 12:17 pm
Here are some ways to look at your holiday catalog results to understand how your business responded to its catalog circulation: Compare your housefile and prospecting results vs. the previous year and your break-even point. Are results stronger, weaker or comparable to the 2014 holiday season? Compare your daily sales flash to the previous holiday…
January 6, 2016 at 9:49 am
What follows is a list of the Total Retail content in 2015 that generated the most reader comments. You’ll see that our readers are highly engaged when it comes to content on shipping rates — who isn’t when it has such an impact on your bottom line — social media marketing, payment options and cooperative…
November 25, 2015 at 2:22 pm
PATIENT: “Doc, we do tests, but I don't feel that we learn much from them. What are we doing wrong? What should we change?” CATALOG DOCTOR: "Try building your tests differently to get clearer, more actionable results. Here are some tips for what to do, and what not to do.” Optimizing an Offer Test The goal:…
October 22, 2015 at 10:01 am
PATIENT: “Doc, I really need to cut catalog program costs again, but without impacting sales. We've already done the standard things like lighter paper, fewer pages, operational efficiencies, and so on. What's left?” CATALOG DOCTOR: “You've done well so far. What's left isn't as easy as the standard cuts. Most require study and elbow grease.…
August 21, 2015 at 12:34 pm
PATIENT: “Doc, we've recently experienced a sales drop and I don't understand why. What's the best way to track down why it happened and how to fix it?” CATALOG DOCTOR: “You're doing right to quickly dig into causes behind the sales drop. The quicker you know why, the faster you can fix things. Here's a…
July 20, 2015 at 1:49 pm
“Our audience is dying. We need to attract a younger audience to get sales back up.” I've heard this over and over for years from both consumer and business catalogers. Yet their age-range demographic reports usually show counts remaining stable, not declining. What's up? While it’s true for catalogers with older customer bases that a…
June 22, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Catalog creatives generally feel like they live in a different universe than circulation folks. However, both share the same catalog goals and you'll find you can achieve those goals faster and better by communicating with each other. Here are some tips on how and when to talk. Before You Begin Your Next Design Cycle 1.…
June 3, 2015 at 3:07 pm
A primary question for catalogers is how deep is their prospecting universe. Catalogers need to know how deeply and frequently they can prospect above breakeven for new customers. Knowing your catalog’s profitable prospecting universe is necessary and important because the business model for catalog marketing is really pretty simple: prospect for new customers at or…
