The Mathematics of Circulation Analysis
In this example, shipping and handling revenue is shown net of freight, as part of the operating expenses. Also shown are expense-to-net-sales ratios for a typical consumer catalog company.
Direct selling expenses should represent about 30 percent of net sales; operating expenses are typically 19 or 20 percent of net sales. As a general rule, the higher the gross margin, the higher the direct selling expense-to-sales ratio—or, the lower the margin, the lower the selling expense-to-sales ratio.
- Companies:
- Lett Direct Inc.
Steve Lett graduated from Indiana University in 1970 and immediately began his 50-year career in Direct Marketing; mainly catalogs.
Steve spent the first 25 years of his career in executive level positions at both consumer and business-to-business companies. The next 25 years have been with Lett Direct, Inc., the company Steve founded in early 1995. Lett Direct, Inc., is a catalog and internet consulting firm specializing in circulation planning, plan execution, analysis and digital marketing (Google Premier Partner).
Steve has served on the Ethics Committee of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and on a number of company boards, both public and private. He served on the Board of the ACMA.  He has been the subject of two Harvard Business School case studies. He is the author of a book, Strategic Catalog Marketing. Steve is a past Chairman of both the Catalog Council and Business Mail Council of the DMA. He spent a few years teaching Direct Marketing at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
You can contact Steve at stevelett@lettdirect.com.
