Omnichannel

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

Catalogers need to continuously humanize customers’ shopping experiences despite an increase in technological advancements, said Todd Simon, senior vice president of $380 million-marketer Omaha Steaks, during his keynote address at the Annual Catalog Conference last week in Orlando. Simon offered several pointers for catalogers to improve and grow their businesses, including the following: If you sell a commodity, turn it into a brand. “We leveraged the regional quality of the beef we sell -- premium, grain-fed Midwestern beef in the heart of beef country USA in Omaha,” Simon said. The company adds value by incorporating a natural beef aging process that he said few beef

What’s the single biggest mistake catalogers make when attempting a strategy to improve customer retention? “We most often see over-investment in the least productive customers and under-investment in the most productive [customers],” says Jim Wheaton, co-founder and principal of Wheaton Group, a Chicago-based data mining practice. Wheaton offers the following advice to catalogers looking to make the most of their customer files. 1. Focus on identifying customers who’ve ceased to respond because they’re no longer receiving your promotions. The first step is getting rid of the dead weight, says Wheaton. In addition to NCOALink, “nixie” and deceased processing, statistics-based predictive modeling can determine which

In the wake of Kmart’s recent merger with Sears, we thought you’d enjoy this nostalgic look back at what it was like to work for a catalog pioneer during its heyday. —Editors As American business was getting back on its feet after World War II, I entered a career adventure with one of the world’s largest catalogers, Sears, Roebuck and Co. Since all my associates in 1948 were more than twice as old as I, that means I’m the last survivor of the company’s catalog creative division from that era. Here’s a look back at what catalog creation was like in

The rise of the search engine as a marketing tool has brought with it a bevy of other online-selling opportunities. Not least among these are the shopping feeds, Web sites that act as online aggregators of merchandise and that allow consumers to compare similar products online, then choose merchants to supply the items. Often shopping feeds are referred to as comparison shopping engines or Web co-ops. Notable examples include Google’s Froogle and Amazon (see “Five Feeds Examined,” below). While few catalogers are claiming that shopping feeds are bringing in huge amounts of money, many in the e-commerce world do admit that they’re

If sales are dipping and your internal expenses are based on a plan you aren’t meeting, you need to get back on track. The questions to ask yourself: How do you react to less-than-desirable sales results? And how soon should you take action? While there may not be quick fixes, I’ve identified some strategies that can help you avoid a disastrous year. This month I’ll discuss generating additional demand revenue — not cutting expenses. It’s difficult to slash your way into profitability, and the long-term effect of that type of quick-fix can be devastating to business. Following are 12 ideas to take for

In many ways, direct response television (DRTV) and cataloging are at opposite ends of the direct marketing spectrum. DRTV promotions — be they infomercials, spot commercials or home shopping — focus on selling to an unknown prospect or customer. Meanwhile, with only a few exceptions, catalogers target their promotions to specific prospects, customer lists or audiences. Yet both have to deal with all the challenges of today’s direct response marketing. For example, they must present products in compelling ways that make the sale, despite ever-increasing competition from other direct marketers, retailers and e-merchants. Also, they must address customers’ privacy and data security concerns,

The Cataloger’s Story Can an established retail and Internet merchant profitably start a catalog in this era of rising postal and production costs? Some catalog industry experts say the risks are too great and the ideal time to launch a new print catalog has passed. But is that really true? John Hambleton aims to find out. Hambleton sells surf-related apparel and accessories via two beach shops in Florida — Islanders in Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola Beach — and the Web at IslandSurf.com. His Internet sales have convinced him that selling remotely is a viable option for his merchandise offering. And so,

The Internet penetrated consumers’ inner sanctum faster than any medium since the black-and-white television; both reached 50 percent of U.S. households within eight years of being readily accessible, says DoubleClick, citing the 2001 U.S. Census in its paper, “The Decade in Online Advertising, 1994-2004,” released last Wednesday. And just how does that compare to other media used to reach consumers? Other data revealed by the U.S. Census: ¥ Nine years for 50 percent of homes to gain radios ¥ 17 years for personal computers ¥ 39 years for cable television ¥ 70 years for the telephone

* Nearly 80 percent: How many consumers say they use merchants’ Web sites, catalogs and retail stores interchangeably. * 57 percent: How many consumers said they used the channels interchangeably last year. Source:”Retail Demand 2005: Emerging Consumer Desires in the Retail Sector,” a survey of about 5,000 consumers performed by Adjoined Research, a division of Adjoined Consulting, www.adjoinedconsulting.com