Don't Give Up Your Order Form Just Yet
With the help of The Dingley Press, we conducted a study to determine how many catalogs it prints that still include some type of order form. We found that almost half of our fairly large sample size have no inside ink-jet or order form insert, but they do have an order form printed on-page in the catalog. Another 18.5 percent use a bind-in order form. In summary, 71.5 percent of the catalogs we reviewed use an order form; only 28.5 percent of the catalogs eliminated the order form entirely. Here are the results of our test:
- catalogs with an order form insert with inside ink-jet (11 percent);
- catalogs with inside ink-jet on a catalog page (6 percent);
- catalogs that supply an order form insert but don't ink-jet on it (7.5 percent);
- catalogs with no inside ink-jet or order form insert, but with an order form printed on a catalog page (47 percent); and
- catalogs with no order form on a catalog page, no supplied order form, no inside ink-jet (28.5 percent).
Just like an automobile needs tires, I believe a catalog needs an order form. It's not about the less than 5 percent of consumers who still send their order through the mail in an envelope along with their check. It's about how the order form is used. Often the consumer completes the order form by listing the items they wish to purchase, making it easy for them to place their order by phone or online. Yes, the order form does take up valuable selling space in the catalog, however, it's a very necessary part of any catalog.
