Paper: What Top Catalogers are Using and Why

Postage, printing, presentation: There’s a lot to consider when choosing a paper type for your catalog. Catalog Success asked some leading catalogers how they decide which type of paper to use, and how they think it impacts their sales.

Michele Rick, director of customer acquisition, Crutchfield catalog

Product: Consumer electronics

Circulation: About 35 million catalogs mailed per year

Catalog Success: What type of paper are you using now?

Rick: We have two types of books. Our big book has a 144-page body with a four-page cover that prints on gravure. That uses a totally different paper than the supplements, which have a 48-page body and a four-page cover.

For the big book we use an 80-lb cover, #3, and we alternate between International Paper’s (IP’s) Influence and Stora Enso’s Orion. For the body, we use primarily a 30-lb gravure paper, IP’s Advocate, with some portions on Stora Enso’s Producto Roto, which is also a 30-lb, #5 gravure.

CS: Do you buy your own paper, or does your printer buy it for you?

Rick: I buy it from the paper merchants.

CS: Why do you use the 30-lb?

Rick: Our book is heavy, so we try to keep it as light as possible to not push the [U.S. Postal Service’s] per-piece-per-pound limit.

Second, it’s a really good paper that you can be proud of, but looks reasonable. It conveys quality without going overboard and emphasizing price.

But then we put on an 80-lb cover to give it some coffee-table appeal. That really nice cover on top is kind of the right balance. Because electronics are expensive, we don’t want people to think we have all this markup because of paper.

For the supplements we print on #5, 38-lb paper, IP’s Advocate. Because the book is smaller, we want to give it a little bit of heft. But also because [the catalog] has some sales and promotions in it, we don’t want too much heft to give it an inflated sense of cost.

With that particular book, we take it down to a 60-lb cover, alternating between Influence and Orion.

CS:Have you used other types of paper before? If so, why didn’t they work out?

Rick: In the distant past we were on heavier stock for the big book, but it didn’t work out, mainly because of postage costs.

CS:How often do you mail?

Rick: The big book goes out three times a year, in spring, summer and fall. Supplements go out in between those, with an extra one during the holiday season.

CS:How big a part does paper play in your budget considerations?

Rick: That’s hard to answer. We budget with cost in mind, but cost on a per-book basis doesn’t make a difference in your circulation strategy. In that way I’d say it’s not that big, but it’s essentially a huge cost for us.

CS:How much of an impact do you think paper has on your brand?

Rick: Our catalog is our store. You have a different feeling in a Kmart than you do in Nordstrom. You know it feels different; it’s the building, it’s the lighting. With a cataloger, this is your store, so it’s the look and feel of your “building.” It’s one of those intangible things that’s really important, but [customers] can’t lay their fingers on how.

Vern Bush, print services manager, Quill catalog

Product: Office supplies

Circulation: 1.2 million for the semiannual big book; 1.6 to 3 million for the monthly flyers

CS:What type of paper are you using now?

Bush: For our semiannual catalog, we’re using—and have been for 10 or 12 years—33-lb SCA, Stora Enso Superior Gloss, gravure.

Prior to that, we were using a #5 coated sheet, but the basis weight and price of Superior Gloss gave us a good advantage for the catalog. We were on a heavier basis weight coated sheet in 1990, and when we looked at the SCA it was comparable to the 34-lb coated we were using at the time, for less money.

Will you change your paper type to counteract the postage increase?

Bush: We recently did the last printing on 33-lb. Yes, we’re lowering our basis weight for the catalog just to counteract the postage increase. We tested eight different kinds of SCA and are evaluating results of that test now to see which mills will be selected for catalogs in the next printing in October.

The amazing thing about the SCA grades is that they’re all really good and quite comparable. We tested [lighter-weight paper], and we got usable product from every sheet we tested. That was extremely encouraging for us, and it goes to show that the industry is moving forward and concentrating on lighter-weight paper.

CS: Have you used other types of paper before? If so, why didn’t they work out?

Bush: The monthly flyer used to be on a 28-lb sheet, but we downgraded it last year to a 26-lb sheet. Again, this was a postage and cost consideration. That’s probably as light as we’ll go. We tried a 25-lb, but the opacity wasn’t satisfactory for us. We haven’t used lightweight coated at all this year because the quality of the SCA grades has improved so much.

Of course, the entire paper market is in the dumper right now, and we’re enjoying it with mixed emotions, because when it turns, it’ll turn big time.

CS: How big a part does paper play in your budget considerations?

Bush: It’s about half of what our print budget is.

CS: How much of an impact do you think paper has on your brand?

Bush: In our case it’s important. We’re strictly business-to-business; we have no retail stores. If we’re selling a $600 desk, we have to represent it as closely to actual as possible. If the customer doesn’t like it, we’re getting it back and paying freight both ways.

For example, for our special holiday card catalog, we order a special super white grade in from Germany because color is so critical. We buy the paper we need to get the color we want.

Scott Hansen, director of print production, Nordstrom.com catalog

Product: Apparel, shoes, jewelry and gifts

Circulation: Nordstrom.com does not disclose this data. However, this Nordstrom division buys 11,000 tons of coated groundwood and free sheet body paper, and 1,000 tons of free sheet cover paper per year.

CS: What type of paper are you using right now? Why do you use it?

Hansen: Most of our paper is 40-lb, #4 free sheet and groundwood. Our covers are 70-lb, #3 free sheet.

Some of the sales catalogs have a 50-lb, #4 cover, and a 36-lb, #4 body. All of our paper is from International Paper.

We carefully selected it for shade, gloss, brightness, smoothness and print reproduction. The paper we use helps with our brand image and reproduces the photography and merchandise with the highest possible quality.

CS: How often do you mail?

Hansen: Every few weeks.

CS: Have you used other types of paper before? If so, why didn’t they work out?

Hansen: We put our paper program out to bid every other year. Last year, we tested about 10 different sheets before deciding to go with International Paper so there would be no disappointments going forward.

CS: Will you change your paper type to counteract the postage increase?

Hansen: Not right now. Our paper pricing has gotten a lot lower and has softened the blow of the recent increase. But the mill we selected offers the option of going to lighter basis weights, so if we need to, we can.

CS: How big a part does paper play in your budget considerations?

Hansen: Currently, paper is 26 percent of my budget, and Nordstrom.com is OK with what we’re spending for right now.

Postage currently is 45 percent of my budget, and there’s little I can do about it.

CS: How much of an impact do you think paper has on your brand?

Hansen: We feel paper has a significant impact on our brand image.

We worked with IP and our paper merchant, A.T. Clayton, to customize a sheet for Nordstrom.com. Because of who we are and the tonnage we have, they’re willing to work with us. We just switched to IP at the beginning of the year, and for the next two years we’ll be using a sheet we helped develop called Nordstrom Gloss. It’s a great sheet of paper.