Special Report: Paper

“We have to find a way to sell product without putting as many books in the mail,” Calder says. “We have to get that response through one major mailing and the other marketing initiatives, whether that be print ad reminders or e-mail campaigns.”

When catalogers do seek better pricing on paper, they need to go to the bargaining table with a set of standards, says Richard Holben, paper sourcing manager at Allentown, Pa.-based business-diary/planner cataloger Day-Timers. “We’re always looking for different paper stocks that are available for substitution when needed,” he says. “That new stock of paper must meet the quality specification for each product, however.”