Bill Licata

In my print story, I outlined for you what I believe to be the 17 most important and crucial steps in the catalog production process. But there are 10 others that also are worth seriously considering. 1. Define your editorial position and the entire tone of your catalog copy by your brand strategy. If it’s low price, you’ll be screaming sale or value at every opportunity; but if it’s quality, you’ll focus on product benefits and your tone will be more authoritative and/or educational. 2. Prepare product information sheets for all new products. These sheets will be the bible used by copy and

This Web-only exclusive offers 27 quick steps in the catalog production process worth considering. 1. Determine unique selling proposition. 2. Define editorial position. 3. Determine catalog look. 4. Complete square-inch analysis. 5. Preliminarily review continuation product. 6. Preliminarily review new products. 7. Prepare product information sheets. 8. Review pick-up copy and presentation. 9. Paginate and allocate space. 10. Finalize merchandise selection. 11. Present initial design concepts. 12. Layout catalog, first draft. 13. Design order form. 14. Revise layouts, second draft. 15. Write manuscript copy. 16. Plan the photo shoot. 17. Shoot new photography. 18. Revise manuscript copy. 19. Finalize pricing, sizing, etc. 20. Finalize photo picks. 21. Prepare composed pages, first draft. 22. Proof loose color. 23. Revise composed pages, second draft. 24. Finalize composed pages. 25. Create

Catalog design and production today are faster than ever, but the process still can be daunting. The steps outlined here begin with branding considerations and end with catalog printing. Some firms add interim proofing steps that may or may not improve the catalog, but certainly do add to the expense. For that reason, consider these to be the optimum number of steps needed to efficiently organize the production process to create a catalog on time and on budget. (In addition to the 17 outlined below, you’ll find 10 more key steps online, if you follow the story to the Web at end of

In last week’s feature, I discussed the basic process for square inch (squinch) analysis and how the sales per inch metric can determine which products in your catalog deserve more space and which can be eliminated from the catalog entirely. This week, I’ll discuss other squinch metrics that can be tracked and those worth pursuing. Five additional metrics you can add into your squinch analysis spreadsheet are: * Profit per inch by item; * Sales per inch by category; * Profit per inch by category; * Sales per inch by page; and * Profit per inch by page. Profit per inch: Although it’s available in many software packages, especially

Because catalog space costs you money, you need to know which products are paying a return on investment and those that aren’t. However, square inch (squinch) analysis can be used to determine the relative strength of your customers’ demand for each and every product. This invaluable information then is used to make decisions about the catalog, such as featuring high-demand products and eliminating those with little or no demand. More importantly, however, squinch analysis provides a guide for correcting marginal items and shows you how to make them winners. The result is often an increase in total sales per catalog –- not just products