Partner With Your Vendors

I wasn’t sure how to increase the vendor’s share of our current offering, so I suggested we think of something new to layer on top of our current efforts. I also asked if the vendor might share some of the risk if we did so.

It so happened I’d been considering sending a direct mail package to the buyers in our largest category. This package would include a mini-catalog, along with a letter and order form offering items that weren’t found in the regular catalog. I wanted to encourage existing customers to spend more within a category from which they’d already purchased (ours is a merchandise catalog with eight major categories, and most people purchase in only one). I also hoped the extra contact in a different format would spur more sales and not cannibalize the catalog results.