SkyMall: The Ultimate Catalog Business Model

0 = Year

G = Issue (Summer)

CO = Airline (Continental)

320 = Hub

SkyMall’s Downside

Customer names are jointly owned by SkyMall and its merchant partners that fill the orders. The SkyMall business model is designed to help catalogers solve the problem of high acquisition costs by taking them to audiences at virtually no cost. However, the traditional catalog model is turned on its head in that SkyMall cannot aggressively market to its own customers, because it would then be in competition with its merchant partners. The result is that only 15 percent of SkyMall’s business comes from repeat customers, a number that would put any other catalog quickly out of business. But, because of Worsley’s unique distribution system and business model, SkyMall is flourishing.