Omnichannel

Rule of thumb: A catalog company can’t break even on the initial orders generated from prospects. Catalogers must be willing to invest to acquire new buyers to grow, or at least maintain, their 12-month buyer count. This month, I’ll cover the cost to acquire a new buyer, why it’s important to invest in prospecting and why you shouldn’t expect to break even on the initial order. Catalogers tell me they don’t want to prospect below the incremental break-even point. That’s a nice goal, but it’s not realistic. Today’s economics, such as postage costs, paper prices, etc., combined with lower response (an ongoing trend

Remember those old TV announcements, “It’s 10 p.m., do you know where your children are?” Those have come to mind lately as my son Marc, 17, enters his senior year in high school. He, my wife and I have hit the ground running searching for colleges. Like any parent, to me it seems like he grew up practically overnight. But it’s the college search thing that’s really hit home with me lately — namely, that a generation has passed. This column isn’t about him; it’s actually about my generation. See, my thought process seems to naturally flow from this, “Wow, you’re growing up; you’re

Summer’s almost gone; the holiday season’s creeping up. So besides making sure that shoppers find your site among the tens of thousands of retail sites available to them on the Web, what else can you do to ensure you’re ready when shoppers start searching for holiday gifts? Here are some helpful tips: 1. Figure out what works best for your business. For example, are your shoppers enticed by free shipping offers, or do you need to ship gratis just to be competitive? Do you sell the kinds of items that people tend to give loved ones perennially — namely sweaters, slippers, men’s shirts

Well into the second decade of the Internet, many of you reading this — if not all of you — have a pretty good recollection of the “Wild Wild West” days of the Internet early on. It actually still is the Wild West, but in a much different way. And, having sat in on a number of sessions at the e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, I noticed the breadth of knowledge that’s permeated the catalog/multichannel community and helped give it an entirely different character than it had 10 years ago. For one, consider how the language has changed. In the mid-’90s, I

The oft-repeated rap on pure retailers’ online efforts heard at the recent e-Tail conference held in Washington, D.C., was that, by and large, they’ve always been a step behind from a commerce and developmental standpoint than Web pure plays and catalogers. Although mid-scale retailer Bloomingdale’s got on the dot-com wagon early, led by a separate division that handles both its and Macy’s online units, the Bloomie’s site eventually needed an overhaul. Since the site’s relaunch in 2004, Bloomie’s Web business has risen from near-bottom to No. 4 when counted alongside Bloomie’s 38 individual stores. The retailer’s Director of Internet Production Sonja Kristofferson shared

Although multichannel marketers must keep a keen eye on the connections between catalog, Web and stores, there are a number of ties that are particularly tight between just the Web and retail. Lindy Rawlinson, vice president of Web store and new business at Neiman Marcus Direct, discussed several tips and tactics for multichannel marketers during a session she gave at the recent e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C. 1. Align your brand with consistent messages and marketing. “Customers demand that marketers stay true to what your brand represents to customers, deliver clear and consistent marketing messages and communications,” she said. “That’s the foundation you can

Brian Beitler, vice president of customer marketing for multichannel retailer Bath & Body Works, often spends quality time inside one of the company’s 1,600 stores, asking customers what they’re looking for, why they’re at the store and if they come away satisfied; he similarly monitors the marketer’s online customers. During a presentation at last week’s e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C., he offered six key pointers on what multichannel marketers should know about their customers and how to leverage that data across channels. 1. Know your customers like your best friends. 2. Know each customer’s value and the value of his address, e-mail and preferences.

An ongoing challenge for most catalogers/multichannel merchants is keeping a respectable sales pace going during off-seasons. And Shelley Nandkeolyar, CEO of multititle apparel cataloger Norm Thompson Outfitters, outlined several ways to keep momentum going following the holiday season in a session he delivered at last week’s e-Tail conference held in Washington, D.C. Below are some useful pointers he had to offer. * Keep the pressure on. Make liberal use of e-mail marketing for customer retention and reactivation, Nandkeolyar said. In his experiences at Norm Thompson and with the Solutions and Sahalie catalogs, Nandkeolyar has found that with e-mail, the more you use it, the

With Web 2.0 tools in multichannel marketers’ grasp, Web marketing is ready to become as personable as old-fashioned Main Street stores, said Cliff Conneighton, senior vice president of marketing for Web software solutions provider ATG, during a session at last week’s e-Tail conference in Washington, D.C. “If we can make online shopping as personal and relevant as the best local shops,” he said, “that’s best for the customer and you. Present a more relevant offer and she’s more likely to buy.” Feeding off a common theme — to pay attention to what shoppers want and present choices most relevant to what they want

Certainly over the years, the retail shopping experience has endured many peaks and valleys — plenty more valleys than peaks. But the changes I’ve noticed more recently have gone in the other direction, and catalogers need to adapt quickly. Retail shopping ain’t so bad these days. More stores look better. Even the Lands’ End department in a Kmart I visited in July didn’t look so bad. Service has improved, too. So the gap may be tightening on the edge catalogers/multichannel marketers have long enjoyed with regard to service and shopping ease. Certainly, there always have been exceptions to the notion that retail shopping is a