Merchandising

We hope you get the most out of this special report on operations and fulfillment. We chose a balanced array of three topics that should give you plenty of money-making and cost-saving ideas. Specifically, the articles focus on the top operations benchmarking strategies, the most useful and usable warehouse metrics, and an assortment of ways to keep your call-center reps happy and interested in their jobs. —Paul miller, editor-in-chief 7 Steps to Self Assessment: How better benchmarking can maximize performance in your fulfillment center by Kate Vitasek 5 Most Useful Fulfillment Metrics: Ponder your goals, gauge your progress and line up areas

As per my headline, for this issue of Catalog Success: The Corner View, I hand my pen — um, keyboard — over to Catalog Success E-Commerce Insights columnist Alan Rimm-Kaufman. Alan heads the Rimm-Kaufman Group, an online agency providing large-scale paid search bid management and Web site testing services, and was formerly a marketing executive with the Crutchfield catalog of consumer electronics. I leave the stage to Alan, who starts with a potential scenario followed by nine predictions for the future of the catalog/multichannel business as it affects you. Scene: A bar at a conference hotel during a marketing trade show. Bill:

Merchandise is still king. That was only one of a handful of themes taken from a wide-ranging and spirited session at last week’s NEMOA Spring 2008 Conference in Cambridge, Mass. This particular session included Derrick Egbert, president of New Perspectives; Allen Abbott, EVP/COO of Paul Frederick MenStyle; Jonathan Fleischmann, president/ CEO of the Potpourri Group; and Dana Pappas, COO/CFO of Plow & Hearth. It focused on the pressures of managing a catalog business in today’s uncertain economic times. Below are some of the tips/observations taken from the panelists and audience members. * Merchandise: “It’s the starting point,” Fleischmann said. The need for collaboration

In the final part of this three-part series on how catalogers’ pricing strategies are evolving in response to the Web’s effect on branded products, this week I’ll look at the economic factors that can affect promotional pricing strategies. (For part 1, click here; for part 2, click here.) While using a promotional pricing strategy can prove effective, there are a number of economic issues you should concern yourself with. Pricing below existing market prices has a number of pitfalls, including the following issues. 1. Can the incremental sales produce enough incremental profit to offset the loss in margin from lower prices? The increase

In the second installment of this three-part series on how catalogers’ pricing strategies are evolving in response to the Web’s effect on branded products, this week I’ll provide options on how to increase sales without cutting prices across all merchandise. (For part 1, click here.) Catalogers often mistakenly assume that cutting prices will increase sales enough to deliver additional profit. Sales can go up, but profits can go down. Even worse, sometimes cutting prices yields no increase in sales; then profits really decline. To successfully achieve a 10 percent-plus sales increase based on cutting prices, you must first test the price sensitivity of

Bounceback programs are often limited to inserting a copy of your most recent catalog — preferably with a different cover — into the fulfillment box. But as shipping rates, fuel surcharges and paper costs all increase, more catalogers are opting against this approach. They’ve run the numbers, and their incremental sales from those catalogs no longer justify the expense. If you’re in this position, or are wondering how to leverage shipping expenses, try a strategically planned and formally managed bounceback program. A bounceback program can help build your brand, improve customer retention and develop a new revenue stream, regardless of whether you’re in B-to-C

In the first installment of this three-part series on how catalogers’ pricing strategies are evolving in response to the Web’s effect on branded products, let’s examine how catalogers have been put in this precarious situation and what they need to do to remain profitable. As the price-comparison engines turn more branded products into commodities, what’s your catalog’s best pricing strategy? Most catalogers’ current pricing strategy is to have the lowest market price available — either matching or beating any competitor’s best price. This policy is typically supported with a lowest price guarantee. It’s becoming common for most catalogers and Web merchants to offer

It’s amazing how many companies don’t look very closely at software license agreements. These are legal documents, and without close review of payment terms, deliverables, schedules, termination options and other key details, you could be putting your company at risk of losing thousands of dollars. To protect yourself and your company’s interests, don’t rush into signing an agreement just because the vendor is giving you a soon-to-expire discount. Getting to a fair agreement for both parties takes time, negotiation and a careful review of any contract. (A quick disclaimer: The focus of this article is to alert you of some of the items you’ll

Many multichannel merchants turn to private label merchandise to create their own unique identities, niches and brands as exclusive labels continue to increase in popularity among consumers. But has this necessarily been a good thing? According to a recent benchmark report published by research firm Retail Systems Research titled “PLM Squared: Product Lifecycle Management Powers Private Label Merchandise,” this recent phenomenon has been plagued by quality concerns from consumers. Much of this concern stems from marketers’ increased reliance on sourcing this merchandise from low-cost sourcing countries. The recent survey polled 59 multichannel marketers. Here are some noteworthy findings of the survey. * Last year

There’s that old Bob Dylan song about times a-changin’ that I won’t bother to quote further. But it seems to hold true moreso year after year, and 2008 is no exception. So while some of us continue to exchange “happy new year” greetings with one another, I’ll send along one last new year’s greeting with what I believe to be the top five actions you should act on, examine or just ponder to bring your catalog/multichannel business in sync with the times. 1. Get your matchback system working smoothly at once. Assign someone in either your marketing or operations departments to do nothing