Shipping

For companies that ship to residential locations, it may behoove them to take advantage of the U.S. Postal Service, which can still provide cost-effective shipping despite the recent rate increases. That was the message of Alicia Berry, COO of DVD Empire, a Web-based DVD retailer, at a session during the recent National Conference on Operations & Fulfillment in Schaumburg, Ill. “The most important thing you can do to control costs is to figure out where each of your packages is going and how much it costs — the daily numbers,” she said. “That way, you’ll be able to take advantage of what the USPS has

With the much dreaded postal rate increase taking effect this month, hopefully by now most catalogers have made at least some of the adjustments needed to continue to grow — or at least survive. As we’re in the heart of the industry’s conference season, many have been feasting on scores of postal cost-cutting tips coming from presentations, special emergency sessions and the media. For our part, after breaking the news on our Web site (www.CatalogSuccess.com) about the Postal Regulatory Commission’s punishing catalog rate increase that was more or less hidden in its rate recommendation to the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors,

When I look at a datacard to decide the mailability of a prospect list, I look carefully at all of the details. I have an inquisitive and questioning nature and want to know everything I can about the lists I want to mail, but…

…Mostly what I want to know is what affinity the prospect list has with my customers.

The closer the affinity, the more I can assume this list is a good prospect for my mailings. If the list seems right, based on the information on the datacard, I move it from my “suspect” list folder to my “prospect” list folder.

Some datacards provide a

In my last Catalog Success column, “What Acquisition Due Diligence Reviews Can Teach You” (February 2007, pg. 37), I explained why catalogers can benefit from embracing and using the analytical models employed by acquirers and financing sources in this industry as they decide which catalog/Web marketing businesses to pursue. Now, onto the use of due diligence methodologies in catalog deal-making. These are some of the key analyses you should use in most of your seasonal circ plans and your annual strategic plan. Furthermore, and of no small importance, these are the same metrics and analyses your local banker should be using when deciding on

Marketers are facing the mounting challenge of consumers feeling they’re bombarded with messages they didn’t ask for, don’t need and find disruptive. This so-called “clutter” has led to decreasing response rates. A new whitepaper prepared by the Winterberry Group with data supplied by Mintel Comperemedia, Responsys and Vertis Communications finds that timing, relevance and personalization are three keys to cutting through that “clutter” and driving consumer response. Here are some tips taken from the report to help catalogers and other direct marketers achieve those goals: 1. Make timing count. Coordinate offers with life events, such as marriages, births, new moves. Consumers are also more open to

During its monthly luncheon in Plainview, N.Y., on April 19, the Direct Marketing Association of Long Island (DMALI) focused primarily on the catalog/multichannel business’s issue du jour: postal. Perry Fernandes, general manager of the PSI Group division of Pitney Bowes, and Vito Fortuna, a U.S. Postal Service marketing strategist, provided details on the upcoming postage increase and offered some less-recently-pubicized strategies for marketers to mitigate it. Fernandes offered the following tips to lessen the burden of the increase. * Consolidate mailings or mail streams when possible * Design letter-size pieces to avoid non-machinable surcharges * Change flat size pieces to meet letter size dimensions * Alter parcel size mail

Each year, direct mailers lose millions of dollars due to a seemingly uncontrollable problem: unaccounted for movers. The U.S. Postal Service reports that 14.2 percent of Americans move to a new address each year. Of these movers, approximately 10 percent to 20 percent never report their new address to the USPS. The losses add up quickly, even from one mailing. There’s the expense of printing and mailing an undeliverable piece as well as the lost sales from the relocated buyer. For a mailing of 1 million pieces that costs $0.55 each and nets $2.50 in revenue per piece, the losses can total more than

I’m going to interrupt my series on list selects for the issue that’s gotten under just about every cataloger’s skin lately: the pending postage increase. You have until April 12 to make your voice heard by protesting the USPS postal hike. As you may already know the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) is recommending ridiculously high postal increases that could severely damage many catalogers’ businesses.

I urge you before it is too late to make your voice heard! (See below if not clear how to go about doing this.)

The PRC has posted on its Web site a “Notice Of Request For Reconsideration And Order Establishing

Remailing the same prospect lists or cooperative database segments in the same season is common. But should you remail the exact same names? This is a frequently asked question, and as you’ll see, the best mailing strategy might not be obvious. When a particular list is mailed, or cooperative database model segment is used, results are tracked by source code. If the results meet a predefined criteria — e.g., incremental breakeven, 20 percent less than incremental breakeven — you want to remail that same list or model. If 10,000 names initially were tested, it would make sense to mail 20,000 names next time, and

Usually when we talk about catalogs and postal rate cases, we tend to gloss over the many regulatory details that dictate how new rates will be implemented by the U.S. Postal Service. In many cases, these regulations can have an even greater impact on catalogers than the rates themselves. Regulations can add costs to mail preparation and can detail a host of reasons for not qualifying mail for entry at the most desirable rates. Although some mailers are smart enough to read the rules the USPS proposes as its regulatory implementation plan, many don’t. For some inexplicable reason, they leave attending such details to their