E-Commerce

As many catalogers have learned the hard way, it takes more than just dropping a high-quality, “pretty” book in the mail to survive these days. Consumers’ lives are frenetic — they choose how and when they want to interact with you. And in ever-increasing numbers, that interaction is taking place on the Web. It’s incumbent on you to listen to their demands and act upon them. This special report on e-commerce and catalog/multichannel technology follows suit with everything we provide our readers here at Catalog Success: actionable, money-making tips with immediate benefits. As consumers’ modes of commerce continue to evolve, one

Catalog marketers are a pragmatic group. They stick with tried-and-true methods. New techniques must demonstrate practicality before implementation. Customer reviews and blogs are Web 2.0 techniques, and they’ve demonstrated the ability to build community and stimulate sales. Web 2.0 is focused on interactivity, collaboration and social networking. Marketing becomes more dynamic as customers and prospects are empowered with tools that encourage engagement. Here’s how to harness that crowd-sourced power to provide consumer-generated content that will be influential in the purchasing process. Customer Reviews Some catalogers experiment with letting customers post product reviews on their sites. Typically they’ll use a form with a

Eyeing the ongoing, phenomenal success of trailblazing social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, catalogers are creating their own online communities where they glean valuable feedback from customer posts. “It’s a good time to become a niche online community and do it right,” says Don Philabaum, CEO of Internet Strategies Group, an online consulting firm. “You have millions of people who’ve learned the value of being a part of an online community, and they’ll bring experience, enthusiasm, content — and their network — to your online community.” Blogs, discussion boards and other forms of interactive media are the most cost-effective customer feedback mechanisms around, according

On June 17-18, Catalog Success and F. Curtis Barry & Co. co-presented the first Evaluating, Selecting and Implementing Direct Commerce Systems interactive workshop in Richmond, Va. The success of this intimate event — we drew 50 percent more attendees than we had planned on — represents an exciting, fresh beginning for both of our organizations, one that could easily lead to greater rewards down the road for us, and most of all, for attendees. For this edition of The Corner View, I asked Curt Barry to give his expert synopsis of the key issues that were addressed during the conference. As he points

In his keynote address at the 2008 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago last week, Mike Boylson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of J.C. Penney, discussed his company’s evolution and how the Web has become central to its growth mission. With a $1.4 billion marketing budget, Penney certainly intends to fund its Web development generously. “It’s becoming an economic necessity to transform the marketing initiative to the digital space,” Boylson said, noting the rising costs involved with mailing catalogs. This isn’t to say that Penney has abandoned the catalog as a marketing channel. It’s just scaling back. And the message being

In the first part of a three-part series on the analytic measurements necessary for catalogers to understand their multichannel businesses, this week I outline four tactics to help marketers manage their Web buyers and look at why managing these buyers is so critical to their success. Face it: The Internet age for catalogers is here to stay. The impact of Web buyers on catalogers’ operations continues to grow. Web-created demand and online order-taking continue to increase. The issue for catalogers is how to calculate the impact of Web buyers and drill down and understand how best to circulate to these customers. The Web has

A constant theme heard throughout the recent ACCM conference in Kissimmee, Fla., was how catalogers can no longer survive with the catalog alone. They must cater to today’s multichannel customer if they hope to thrive, which means effectively selling on the Web. A session led by Margaret Moraskie, vice president of e-commerce of the women’s apparel catalog Boston Proper, and Brad Wolansky, vice president of global e-commerce of the outdoor sporting goods and apparel catalog Orvis, offered up several tips on how to effectively sell merchandise online. Here are seven of their tips on adapting catalog practices to the Web. 1. Return to

Lately you’ve probably noticed that more and more B-to-B direct marketers are adding various Web 2.0 social networking functions to their online marketing efforts. Office Depot, for example, allows you to share one of its products with your network via Facebook, DiggThis and del.icio.us. It also allows you to review a product and read the product reviews of others, both good and bad.
I’ve also noticed many more product videos cropping up on YouTube. Try searching for industrial tools or forklifts, for example. YouTube isn’t just for funny or entertaining videos anymore. Very useful videos on how to find, buy and use various

Start with the premise that catalogs and the Internet are interdependent and not adversarial. Remember the brick-and-mortar days when retail channels thought they should receive credit for catalog sales within their trading area? The Web vs. catalog debate is just as silly. Catalog/multichannel companies today recognize the importance of having an e-commerce presence, and many successful dot-coms now have a catalog or are starting one. The best run companies maximize both selling channels. This month, let’s explore how to manage those channels together, including mailing strategies for catalog/Web customers, internal allocations to both channels, the importance of matchbacks and profit contribution by

I chose to devote this month’s column to AJAX, the scorching-hot technology that catalogers should become fully familiar with, if they’re not already. So let’s cut right to the chase and answer six key questions about AJAX. 1. Just what is AJAX? Beyond the Greek hero in the Trojan War, AJAX is a Web programming acronym coined by Web expert Jesse James Garrett in 2005. It stands for “Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.” What, you didn’t understand that little string of technobabble? Let’s take each concept in turn: Asynchronous means the browser can exchange data with your server without reloading the entire page.