Maximize Sales With a Complementary Catalog/Web Relationship

We are seeing an increase in the growth and financial performance of many specialty catalogs. None of these companies are old-fashioned general catalogers, and all share the following distinct characteristic: most of the new-to-file customers are coming in via the Internet, while most of the sales are being generated by a catalog (even if the order was placed on the Web site).

The economics of finding Web-generated customers searching to meet specific interests are often more favorable than those obtained by direct mail prospecting. Shoppers have become more adept at locating products using various Internet capabilities, such as search engines and product syndicators of catalog content (e.g., Shop.com, AOL Shopping, Yahoo Shopping, Froogle). The customer is efficiently driving the process through his/her own interests and needs, rather than waiting to be found randomly by catalogers.

Conversely, the economics of catalog marketing are superior for subsequent contacts to these Internet-generated customers. This may seem counter-intuitive, given that e-mail costs a fraction of a catalog mailing. But print catalogs generate a vastly higher response rate, and this is not likely to change in the future.

Because the best consumers use both channels, sales are now a tangled hybrid of originating demand elements. Trying to scientifically isolate and quantify ROI by information channel may be obscuring the main point: both may be necessary in combination for sales to proceed. Those companies that optimize their merchandise, marketing and Web sites to take advantage of the hybrid catalog/Internet marketplace will be in a much better position to experience success in the future.

Following is a checklist of strategies to maximize your Internet and catalog success.

1. Use paid sponsored links (e.g., Overture, Google Adwords) and unpaid search optimization to assure that keyword searches result in a customer finding your site.

2. Join product shopping aggregators, such as Shop.com, Froogle and others appropriate to your products.

3. Perform basic search engine optimization (SEO) by including keywords in product page URLs, titles, headlines, body text, alt tags and links so search engines will properly index your pages and find your items.

4. Use the ROI-based results of your paid search to rank and prioritize keywords for natural search optimization. Use your internal search result rankings for the same purpose.

5. If your site uses dynamic page generation consider creating mirrored static pages as SEO landing pages.

6. Allow catalog orders, requests and referral opportunities to be fulfilled across channels. Place a catalog request button and toll-free order number above the fold on every Web page. Place the site’s URL on every print catalog spread.

7. Use list-optimization services, such as those from NextAction, I-Behavior and Abacus, to score Web buyers and inquiries for mailing.

8. Use e-mail to pre-notify buyers of mailings, allow lapsed customers to request catalogs, encourage customers to send referrals and make special merchandise offers.

9. Work toward presenting custom page views for each customer based on his or her history.

10. Use browser cookies, a welcome back message and quick-buy buttons to assure that your customers always come back to a site where they know their carts are prepared with their shipping and payment preferences.

To reach Bill Nikolai, e-mail him at bill@lenser.com.