Edward Fischer

What makes a merchant great? According to marketing expert Andrea Lawson Gray, there's a lot more to it than just "shopping." Lawson Gray, president of San Francisco-based Aesthetics Marketing, says there are seven skills that separate the gurus from those who merely create a "me-too" product mix. Her "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Merchants" are: 1.Indexing. HEMs (Highly Effective Merchants) use many different methods to measure merchandise success, including benchmarking (both by item and by classification); analysis of space versus number of items per classification; demand versus profitability; and margin analysis. 2.Source to a Plan. HEMs source great products based on sound

A Midwest mail consolidator is helping catalogers tackle the problem of duplicate names, duplicate mailings and duplicate costs. Drop Ship Express (DSE) of Long Lake, MN, has developed a proprietary software program designed to scan mailing files and eliminate duplicate names and addresses. Initially created by DSE at the request of cataloger Coach, the "Duplication Elimination Service" is now available to all of DSE's customers. The service addresses a problem that is becoming more widespread for catalog merchants, because catalog requests come in via e-mail and phone from customers who are already on the company's list. Catalog mailers who use the service

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