A Look Inside Appleseed’s World and Its Customers’ World

In discussing her first fitness factor, Spofford advised other catalogers to gain insight, know your market and segment your customers. What’s more, maximize your customer knowledge by leveraging your transactional data to tailor programs, offer the appropriate assortment and communicate well.

She strongly urged other multichannel marketers to maintain an ongoing dialog with customers. Appleseed’s conducts focus groups every six month. “They remind you what you should pay attention to,” she said. “You can get their reactions, stay in touch and gain more personal information. We’ve never done a focus group and not gained something productive. Focus groups don’t have to be fancy and overly expensive.”