Well into the second decade of the Internet, many of you reading this โ if not all of you โ have a pretty good recollection of the โWild Wild Westโ days of the Internet early on. It actually still is the Wild West, but in a much different way. And, having sat in on a number of sessions at the e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, I noticed the breadth of knowledge thatโs permeated the catalog/multichannel community and helped give it an entirely different character than it had 10 years ago. For one, consider how the language has changed. In the mid-โ90s, I
Omnichannel
Although multichannel marketers must keep a keen eye on the connections between catalog, Web and stores, there are a number of ties that are particularly tight between just the Web and retail. Lindy Rawlinson, vice president of Web store and new business at Neiman Marcus Direct, discussed several tips and tactics for multichannel marketers during a session she gave at the recent e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C. 1. Align your brand with consistent messages and marketing. โCustomers demand that marketers stay true to what your brand represents to customers, deliver clear and consistent marketing messages and communications,โ she said. โThatโs the foundation you can
The oft-repeated rap on pure retailersโ online efforts heard at the recent e-Tail conference held in Washington, D.C., was that, by and large, theyโve always been a step behind from a commerce and developmental standpoint than Web pure plays and catalogers. Although mid-scale retailer Bloomingdaleโs got on the dot-com wagon early, led by a separate division that handles both its and Macyโs online units, the Bloomieโs site eventually needed an overhaul. Since the siteโs relaunch in 2004, Bloomieโs Web business has risen from near-bottom to No. 4 when counted alongside Bloomieโs 38 individual stores. The retailerโs Director of Internet Production Sonja Kristofferson shared
Brian Beitler, vice president of customer marketing for multichannel retailer Bath & Body Works, often spends quality time inside one of the companyโs 1,600 stores, asking customers what theyโre looking for, why theyโre at the store and if they come away satisfied; he similarly monitors the marketerโs online customers. During a presentation at last weekโs e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C., he offered six key pointers on what multichannel marketers should know about their customers and how to leverage that data across channels. 1. Know your customers like your best friends. 2. Know each customerโs value and the value of his address, e-mail and preferences.
An ongoing challenge for most catalogers/multichannel merchants is keeping a respectable sales pace going during off-seasons. And Shelley Nandkeolyar, CEO of multititle apparel cataloger Norm Thompson Outfitters, outlined several ways to keep momentum going following the holiday season in a session he delivered at last weekโs e-Tail conference held in Washington, D.C. Below are some useful pointers he had to offer. * Keep the pressure on. Make liberal use of e-mail marketing for customer retention and reactivation, Nandkeolyar said. In his experiences at Norm Thompson and with the Solutions and Sahalie catalogs, Nandkeolyar has found that with e-mail, the more you use it, the
With Web 2.0 tools in multichannel marketersโ grasp, Web marketing is ready to become as personable as old-fashioned Main Street stores, said Cliff Conneighton, senior vice president of marketing for Web software solutions provider ATG, during a session at last weekโs e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C. โIf we can make online shopping as personal and relevant as the best local shops,โ he said, โthatโs best for the customer and you. Present a more relevant offer and sheโs more likely to buy.โ Feeding off a common theme โ to pay attention to what shoppers want and present choices most relevant to what they want
Certainly over the years, the retail shopping experience has endured many peaks and valleys โ plenty more valleys than peaks. But the changes Iโve noticed more recently have gone in the other direction, and catalogers need to adapt quickly. Retail shopping ainโt so bad these days. More stores look better. Even the Landsโ End department in a Kmart I visited in July didnโt look so bad. Service has improved, too. So the gap may be tightening on the edge catalogers/multichannel marketers have long enjoyed with regard to service and shopping ease. Certainly, there always have been exceptions to the notion that retail shopping is a
Last week, I got an e-mail from a former student of mine telling me he was starting a company with mail order as one of its distribution channels. He had a neat idea, and I thought the items he was about to sell had merit. Clearly he had his product line thought out well.
It pleases me to no end when this happens: a budding entrepreneur, about to stake his claim in the business world. Then I get the question that I dread: โHow do I buy a list so I can grow the business?โ How do I buy a list? Oh man, havenโt I
All of us are struggling these days to find new tactics to increase our catalog response rates. With postal rates increased, weโve all been working hard to reduce our catalog costs. But how many times can we cut trim size, reduce paper weights or cull our mailing list? What new tactics are there to help increase mail and e-mail response rates to help us offset those higher postal costs?
Many B-to-B catalogers have tested sending an e-mail announcing the arrival of a new catalog. Iโve seen some success with these programs, especially when the e-mail is well-targeted, relevant, properly executed and contains
As has been its annual custom, B-to-B list firm MeritDirectโs annual co-op event in White Plains, N.Y. on July 12 was kicked off by a provocative and entertaining presentation by catalog veteran and futurist Don Libey. Having heard Don speak plenty of times in the past (and despite his frequent speaking appearances, rarely does he repeat a single concept, strategy or idea), Iโve long since learned how to filter through his motivational pep talk and the meat of what he delivers. While always entertaining, his shtick is always chockfull of meat, but it often looks beyond tomorrow. And after all, we all want to