As the holiday season approaches youโre no doubt battening down the hatches for the season that is both the bane and blessing of every business. According to the National Retail Federation, one-fifth of all U.S. retail sales are holiday sales and with a 5 percent increase expected in 2006, itโs sure to be a busy time for any catalog business. Itโs in this pre-holiday calm before the storm that planning, creativity and smart investments will help you get the most out of the season. Here are three tips to help multichannel merchants do just that: 1. Cut down on undeliverables. Whether itโs crazed online
Merchandising
One of the most-asked questions I get is, โWhat product density is right for my catalog?โ There are two main drivers to finding your appropriate product density (or the average number of products per page): your brand and your square inch sales report. Brand. In general โ but not in every case โ the more upscale the brand, the lower the product density; the more downscale the brand, the higher the product density. So if youโre starting a new catalog and have no idea what density to use, look at competitive catalogs (or noncompetitors who sell to your audience), and take your cue
Like it or loathe it, Federated Department Stores continues to rename its acquired department store chains with the Macyโs moniker across the country. And Margaret Getchell would be proud. Believed to be the first female retail executive, Getchell changed Macyโs from a fancy dry goods store into a department store with sales in 1870 totaling $1 million. She was quoted as saying back in 1866, โNever forget to astonish the customer.โ And today, her statement is an integral part of Macyโs new marketing campaign and is prominent in all new store displays. Back then, Getchell achievement astonishment by addition. According to Macyโs brand history,
How do you know if your product development process is broken? One good way to assess it is to see if you are getting lots of โnoโ answers from your team when you suggest new products. As in โNo, we canโt do that,โ โNo, weโve never done that before,โ โNo, a custom version will take too longโ or โNo, we donโt have a vendor for that.โ These could be signs and patterns that your process and/or people are stuck. An ideal process is full of yes answers; that is, the right kind of yes answers. Below youโll find the steps to get your process
Iโm often surprised by the answers I get from catalogers when I ask them, โWhat new products are you featuring?โ They usually respond with a round of additional questions, such as โWhat do you mean by new?โ or โHow many new products are enough?โ Often theyโll simply say, โNew products never work for us.โ But new product development should be the lifeblood of every multi-channel marketer. And if done correctly, it can be one of the most rewarding aspects of a merchantโs job. To get your product development program on the right track, consider the following: * Reinvigorate your product line all the time. Even if
How to use a warehouse assessment to improve customer service and decrease costs. Your warehouse this past holiday season was near capacity; you made it through the season, but it wasnโt pretty. The marketing plans for the new year and next holiday are up considerably. The executive committee of your multichannel company has made a decision that the company must meet the aggressive sales plan, and you have to find ways to stay in this facility for at least one more year. You have two months to come up with a new operational plan. What are you going to do? A key starting point
A catalogerโs job of presenting merchandise is second in importance only to selecting the right merchandise. Readers decide in seconds whether theyโre going to continue to read about a product or move on. The amount of information readers comprehend โat a glanceโ isnโt limited by their brains; itโs only limited by what we put in front of them. Even those interested in a product will skip over it if they donโt understand it or theyโre not โsoldโ on it. What and how you show product in your catalog makes all the difference in the world. The following list contains the most frequent
Onsite merchandising is the top initiative planned by 75 percent of e-commerce executives to improve site performance, according to the Annual Merchant Survey conducted by e-commerce consultancy The e-tailing group. Among other data revealed by the survey of 190 senior e-commerce executives: * 70 percent of e-commerce executives plan to add or improve onsite search to improve Web sales; down from 77 percent last year. * 64 percent plan to redesign or upgrade their sites; level with last yearโs survey. * 60 percent plan to devote resources to content development; up from 53 percent last year. * 50 percent plan to overhaul the online
Regardless of organizational structure or size, catalogers who manufacture their own products are made up of multiple groups that must cooperate if the business is to be successful. Productivity is at stake when the two main players, those in management and production, are not working as one unit. Following are a few ways management and production teams can start working together to gain a competitive edge: * Obliterate false divisions. A recent client often used language that emphasized whether a particular employee was โunionโ or โcompany.โ I worked diligently to get everyone using the same vocabulary: Everyone is now โWE.โ Not only did they unlock the
While a great merchandiser has developed predictive instincts to guide her through planning her next great catalog, a smart merchandiser will supplement those instincts with a well-thought-out strategy, writes Katie Muldoon, author of โThe Catalog Strategistโs Toolkitโ (Racom Communications). Muldoon identifies some elements critical to any merchandiserโs strategy: * Have a game plan. โThis means a written strategy based on known sales for the year before,โ Muldoon writes. In combination with your circulation plan, this game plan will help you decide which product categories and price ranges should be increased, decreased or re-tested. * Get the right analysis. Many catalogers still donโt conduct enough