On the Web: The New World of Direct Marketing

Catalog prospecting has been getting more expensive for years. Everyone knows that postal rates are up while list universes have shrunk. The real impact of these facts is just beginning to show. For a while, catalogers were able to hold profits steady by decreasing prospecting. But this catches up as top-line revenue begins to decline and fixed expenses, of course, don't. A vise grip of cost pressures traps small to midsize catalogers. This is one of the underlying factors behind merger and acquisition activity today.