Catalog Circulation

The pandemic is fading. How can catalogers predict sales for the second half of the year? Here are some points to keep in mind: Catalogers are finding that their sales are decreasing or remaining steady depending on their merchandise category. Some categories were still white-hot this spring, with gardening being a prime example of a…

The USPS’s announcement of new, higher postage rates for catalogers and all other mail is a mistake and should be rolled back. The attempt to boost revenue by raising rates may very well have the exact opposite effect: catalogers will drastically scale back on the number of books they put into the mail, suppressing USPS…

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are important to any print catalog or digital marketing business. Knowing how often and which KPI to track can make a huge difference to your profit and loss (P&L) statement. You need to separate the “nice to know” from the “need to know” information. Tracking nonessential KPIs might make you feel…

Direct mail is experiencing a long overdue resurgence for retailers, hastened by the pandemic. Increasingly crowded ads on social media and Google, full email inboxes, SMS dings all day long ... while the much-maligned mailbox remained emptier as credit card offers dwindled and in-store postcard coupons were recycled. It’s not surprising that many e-commerce brands…

Many catalog mailers are seeing large increases in revenue and growth in their new-to-file buyers because of the surge in pandemic-driven online purchases. However, with the growth in the number of buyers comes lots of uncertainty. Are these new buyers different than buyers pre-pandemic? The business issue with the significant influx of pandemic buyers is…

2020 is a year we will always remember, yet one we would like to forget. It was a year that changed our lives forever. Some have been affected more than others, but we all have a story to tell. People talk about “the new normal,” but what exactly does that mean to retailers and direct…

Swedish furniture giant Ikea is ending production of its famous catalog, saying the thick compendium of affordable sofas, knickknacks and housewares will leave "a phenomenal 70-year legacy." Shoppers aren't using the catalog like they used to, said Konrad Grüss, managing director of Inter IKEA Systems B.V., the worldwide Ikea franchiser, citing changes both in the…

The coronavirus has been a life-changing event. We've never experienced anything like this before. Baby Boomers were young when polio was nearly eradicated with the Salk vaccine in 1955. At that time, very little was known about polio, which paralyzed and often killed young children. Science has greatly advanced since then. Even so, until we…

Catalogers are rightly concerned about managing their catalog deliveries through the mail during the election season. Issues include: Will catalogs get delivered? Will catalogs get delivered on time given the turmoil surrounding the Post Office and the election? Will customers respond like a normal holiday season or will response rates be affected by the shadow…

REI is discontinuing its print mail-order catalog and debuting a magazine. Called Uncommon Path, the print publication will run on a quarterly basis and include stories focused on the outdoors. Kent, Washington-based REI is partnering with Hearst Magazines on the project, which will be staffed by a team of roughly six in-house REI employees as…