Merchandising

Ten days before Sept. 11, Jason Beck, a former hand-to-hand combat instructor for the Marine Corps, invested $100,000 and launched Diamondback Tactical, a direct marketing company selling special operations and tactical law enforcement equipment. In just four years the company has grown into a $34 million a year business selling tactical gear and supplies to the U.S. military and homeland security forces at the state and federal level. But even before Sept. 11, Beck was noticing a shift in military procurement. World events were leading many officers to specify more gear and accessories for Special Operations stationed in the United States and abroad.

Students heading to college this fall plan to spend more than $34 billion on back-to-school merchandise, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Representing a 33 percent increase in spending since last year, what are they spending all that money on? ¥ $11.9 billion on textbooks; ¥ $8.2 billion on electronics; ¥ $5.7 billion on clothing; ¥ $3.6 billion on dorm and apartment furnishings; ¥ $3 billion on school supplies; and ¥ $2 billion on shoes. Source: NRF 2005 Back-to-College Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey Visit: http://www.nrf.com.

Ron Mis sees Galeton as the Dell Computer of the work gear industry: manufacturing and marketing its own product line to a loyal fan base. Mis, owner and president, likens Galeton’s business model to that of a true direct marketer, with cost advantages that a manufacturer enjoys when it sells its own goods direct to end-users. By selling direct in this way, Mis explains, it “makes our business truer to the original concept of a direct marketer than many who call themselves that today. Many who say they’re direct marketers actually are distributors of other manufacturers’ products,” he explains. Thus Massachusetts-based Galeton both

Your service bureau plays an important role in your company’s operations. But dealing with it effectively requires a great deal of trust. No doubt you wonder, for example, if your service bureau selected appropriate names, or if a high percentage of duplicate names were found. Files sent from a catalog company to a service bureau never are completely clean. For instance, there may be duplicates, NCOA changes may not have been applied back to the housefile, or some records may contain invalid addresses. One of the main reasons catalogers use service bureaus is to identify and fix such problems, and to get their

More than 45 percent of consumers cite color as an important factor in purchase decision-making for attire, home furnishings and appliances, according to a recent joint survey conducted by Pantone and BuzzBack Market Research. Other findings revealed by the survey of a palette of 44 colors by 2,769 respondents include: ¥ Only four colors received more than 5 percent of consumers’ votes as favorite color: palace blue (15 percent), fiery red (9 percent), little boy blue (7 percent) and sailor blue (7 percent). ¥ Bright chartreuse (12 percent) and plush moss (10 percent) are consumers’ least-favorite colors. ¥ Clothing is the one category in

On the following pages you’ll meet the winners of the fourth annual Catalogers of the Year awards. We’re honored to recognize the contributions these three professionals have made to the catalog and e-commerce industries. This year’s winners exemplify the astounding level of quality in branding, customer service and merchandising this industry enjoys. The winners include: 1. a former museum director who now sells museum shop-quality educational toys to a national audience via her catalog; 2. a transplanted Briton who has built a thriving company selling telephony equipment; and 3. an industry veteran whose reputation as a maverick in branding, direct marketing and channel-integration

When one of my clients, Lollia, a merchant of luxury bath products, was featured on both Oprah Winfrey’s “O List” (a monthly magazine column of her favorite products) and on her Christmas Special show, I got an inside glimpse of what can happen when the media mogul waves her magic merchandising wand and endorses someone’s products. Winfrey made Christmas come early and extravagantly for Lollia. Lately I’ve been mindfully observing how Winfrey operates. And I’ve discovered some merchandising lessons that catalogers could borrow from her. 1. Winfrey has Passion with a capital “P.” Winfrey’s life is a dream come true story, and she looks to make

Adding targeted product groupings that give your business customers more for less, or that present solutions to their needs, certainly will boost your catalog’s revenue base. Product bundles and kits easily fit that bill. An example of a bundle offer for a consumer catalog: A cookware catalog that sells kitchen knives could sell a paring knife and a filet knife but offer both together at a modest discount. A kit differs from a product bundle in that it ultimately marries products that will complement one another under one SKU and gets the customer to an end goal of some sort. Keeping with the

Problem: Seta Corp., a jewelry syndicator and the parent company of Palm Beach Jewelry catalog, continually looks to reduce labor fulfillment costs. Solution: Instituted employee incentive programs, improved automation, realigned scheduling and staffing, and streamlined distribution center operations. Result: Between 1999 and 2004, the cataloger reduced its labor fulfillment costs by 45 percent; at the same time, it increased employees’ average hourly wages. * The following functions are included in Seta’s labor fulfillment costs: receiving; quality control; stock putaway; picking/packing; shipping; engraving; returns processing and putaway; production maintenance; and all hourly and salaried payroll costs, including payroll taxes. If you’re of the

Problem: Multititle cataloger Shindigz/Stumps wanted to reduce overall transportation expenses, while retaining flexibility in its product shipping options offered to customers. Solution: The multichannel merchant put its parcel shipping business up for bid. Results: A switch in carriers enabled Shindigz/Stumps to reduce its overall transportation costs by 27 percent. Brad Grimsley knew he needed to make some changes. The vice president of service and fulfillment at Shindigz/Stumps, a South Whitley, Ind.-based party and prom supplies merchant, says he noticed soon after arriving at the company in 2003 that he had an opportunity to reduce shipping expenses. Meanwhile, the company’s overall order volume