SkyMall: The Ultimate Catalog Business Model

As McCoy says, “Half our job is to entertain the passenger. If it’s not interesting, even a captive audience won’t buy.” For new catalogers unsure about what merchandise to offer, McCoy will send a catalog marked with notes on which items have done well over the years. SkyMall, however, is sensitive to exclusivity. It would be suicidal to allow two catalogers to offer the same product, and worse if the same product were offered twice in the book at different prices. In general, if a merchant has been continuously running an item, no one else can duplicate the offering until it is dropped.