The 2nd Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Key Issues (January 2008)
Omnichannel
We bring you our exclusive new Catalog Success Latest Trends Report, the second quarterly joint venture with multichannel ad agency Ovation Marketing. This one focuses on the key issues in the catalog/multichannel business. As with our inaugural report last October, this survey contains a statistical analysis of a questionnaire we sent to the Catalog Success e-mail list in November. The responses came from 80 B-to-C and 45 B-to-B catalogers. You can click on the separate B-to-C and B-to-B charts below, as well as the cumulative chart. Some percentages donโt quite add up to 100, due to rounding.
Tax-savvy multichannel marketers know โnexusโ isnโt a new hair product or a high-priced automobile. The term โnexusโ (derived from a Latin word meaning โto connectโ) refers to the amount of contact an out-of-state retailer must have with a state before that seller is legally obligated to collect sales tax from customers. The Supreme Courtโs landmark Quill v. North Dakota decision in 1992 made clear that, under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, the nexus standard requires an in-state physical presence on the part of the retailer. In other words, mail order sales alone will not subject a remote seller to sales or use-tax collection
The clock already may have struck midnight on postal reform, but that doesnโt mean your catalog has to turn back into a pumpkin. Thereโs no need to strip it down in ways that sabotage branding, creativity and, most importantly, sales. Even within the design and financial confines of todayโs postal rates and structure, the dream of an effective, financially viable catalog doesnโt have to be a fairy tale. Through postal reform the U.S. Postal Service is developing a more accountable rate-making structure, as most catalogers should be aware by now, replacing irregular rate hikes with more predictable and regular adjustments. Itโll take serious housecleaning
In the IndustryEye section of this issue on pgs. 12-13, youโll find our second quarterly Catalog Success Latest Trends Report, a benchmarking survey we conducted in late November in partnership with the multichannel ad agency Ovation Marketing. This one focuses on key catalog/multichannel issues, and weโve included most of the charts there, so I encourage you to take a look. Youโll be able to find some charts only on our Web site due to magazine space limitations. We also didnโt have the space to include the numerous comments that you โ our readers and survey respondents โ wrote in response to two of the questions.
The 2nd Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Key Issues (January 2008)
The 2nd Catalog Success Latest Trends Report on Key Issues (January 2008)
I must admit Iโve frequently scrutinized those Landsโ End โghettosโ in Sears stores ever since Sears acquired the pride of Dodgeville, Wis., five and a half years ago. For a few years, Sears tried to sprinkle Landsโ End products amidst its mostly forgettable array of private label and largely undesirable polyester clothing. But Iโm happy to report Sears is getting closer to getting the Landsโ End integration thing right. And when I received a 12-page mini-booklet โ not quite a catalog, per se โ I was truly blown away. The 63โ4-inch x 51โ8 inch outer cover wraps around eight 63โ4 inch x 4 3โ4
While technology makes many things easier, it also can complicate your job. And as the Internet โ and all that goes with it โ has evolved over the past dozen years or so, catalogersโ jobs have become a lot more complex. Beyond merely becoming e-commerce and multichannel marketing experts, catalogers must pay closer attention to analytics and constantly reconsider how they allocate their marketing budgets. Ask any multichannel merchant and youโll hear the same thing: The rubber stamp has no role in making marketing plans these days. The ongoing changes in e-commerce force catalogers to constantly reinvent the wheel. Add the killer postage increase
This month, I'll focus on one major trend and one major non-trend, both of which could impact significantly many multichannel merchants. One of these โ the tumbling housing market โ could enable catalogers to feed positively off its effects. The other one, however โ the state of the corporate apparel market โ needs a close look. Recent reports from the National Association of Realtors show sales of existing homes have plunged to their lowest level in nearly a decade. And Bloomberg News reported that new home sales fell to their lowest level in more than a decade. In such times, homeowners invest in their existing