Berglund’s Take

Catalog Success: What methods of customer acquisition (industry-wide) will be most relevant in the coming years?
Greg Berglund: I’m concerned about the trend in the industry where more and more customers are being acquired using online methods compared to traditional direct marketing methods. The lifetime value of online-acquired people tends to be lower across all businesses I’ve been in — not just this one — and lower than direct marketing-acquired individuals. This is often due to the fact that the switching cost is much lower.