Garden.com and other online retailers are changing direct marketing—including the look and function of the mail order catalog

By Melissa Sepos

“What I think is so interesting, you don’t see any category-killer catalogs in the U.S.,” which Sharples attributes to the complex business model needed to operate gardening retail. “The only way to create a one-stop shop is to do it in the virtual sense.”

The Catalog’s Contribution

After five years on the Internet, Garden.com has tried its share of marketing tools and campaigns to grab the attention of off-line garden shoppers. In December 1999, it launched its first mail order catalog. The 1.5 million-circulation catalog was an experiment—one that worked.