B-to-B Cataloging: Are You Right Sized?
n Sort. In Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program, take each category’s sales data and sort product sales from greatest to least. The products in these under-performing categories often approximate the 80/20 rule, in that 20 percent of the category’s products produce 80 percent of its sales. Though these percentages may not hold up exactly, the question is whether a minority of the products produce the majority of the sales. It often becomes very clear where to start trimming product, which directly translates into space cuts and pages reduction.
- Companies:
- J. Schmid & Assoc.
A columnist for Retail Online Integration, George founded HAGUEdirect, a marketing agency. Previously he was a member of the Shawnee Mission, Kan.-based consulting and creative agency J. Schmid & Assoc. He has more than 10 years of experience in circulation, advertising, consulting and financial strategy in the catalog/retail industry. George's expertise includes circulation strategy, mailing execution, response analysis and financial planning. Before joining J. Schmid, George worked as catalog marketing director at Dynamic Resource Group, where he was responsible for marketing and merchandising for the Annie's Attic Needlecraft catalog, the Clotilde Sewing Notions catalog, the House of White Birches Quilter's catalog and three book clubs. George also worked on corporate acquisitions.
