An ageless practice, square-inch analysis remains a necessary evil for virtually all catalogers

By Mary Ann Kleinfelter

Every cataloging metric from “back in the day” has found its 21st century analytical counterpart, from response analysis to sales-and-inventory forecasting of multiple demand curves, points out Ken Lane, founder and president of Hathaway & Lane Direct, a Litchfield, Conn.-based consultancy whose specialty is supporting small- to medium-sized catalogers with circulation and direct marketing analytics. “In a multichannel world, squinch analysis is a must-have in your marketing department,” Lane says. “And the concept of a product paying for its space does translate from paper to cyberspace.”