Lett Direct Inc.

Assuming you have the right merchandise, 70 percent or more of a successful mailing campaign is dependent on the lists you use. Proper list selection means the difference between profits or losses on the income statement. This includes the proper use of your housefile and the outside rented lists you use. The specific lists you mail and the quantities of every list included in your plan are important considerations. I will talk about the different types of lists available and what you can do to improve your results. All mailing lists can be classified into three different types: 1. Direct response lists.

Matchbacks have become routine for catalogers. This is the process in which you check your orders against your recent mail tapes to give credit to the proper source code — to see where sales are originating, and which key code should be given credit for each sale. With the amount of business going to the Web, it’s next to impossible to track results to a specific source code without doing a matchback. How a Matchback Is Done Matchbacks link orders to mailings using merge/purge logic. The process allocates unknown orders back to mailed records based on customer-provided source code, customer number, merge/purge results,

What better way for a tips-oriented business magazine to wind down 2006 than with the top 50 tips of the year? My staff and I spent the past several weeks going through every article that’s run so far in Catalog Success and the Catalog Success Idea Factory e-newsletter this year to bring you the ultimate how-to “cheat sheet.” Throughout these pages, we’ve synthesized the year’s best tips, summarizing, and in some cases quoting directly, from stories and/or the sources themselves, where noted. Below each, you’ll see the industry expert who offered the tip. We reference the issue from which the tips originate so

A circulation strategy accounts for up to 70 percent of any mailing’s success. No doubt, we can all use a refresher when it comes to circulation planning and execution based on the importance of getting it right. So, this month, I felt it appropriate to review the basics and factors that are critical to any mailing campaign’s success. Consider the following key elements: housefile selections, prospecting and plan execution. Housefile Selections Balance mailings to your housefile with the desired level of prospecting. About half of your circulation should be going to your housefile. Most catalogers use some form of recency, frequency, monetary

COMPANY NAME TOTAL BUYERS 12-MONTH BUYERS BASE PRICE/M Abercrombie & Fitch 29,977 12,367 $125 Acorn Direct 3,290 3,136 $135 Bass Pro Shops 8,074 4,495 $90 Brookstone 7,931 6,210 $110 Casual Living 448,385 448,385 $114 Coldwater Creek 60,432 24,773 $130 Eddie Bauer 25,648 8,948 Exch. Only Edwin Watts Golf Shops 2,024 2,024 $125 Hammacher Schlemmer 47,945 11,922 $135 Metropolitan Museum of Art 17,125 17,125 $175 National Wildlife 3,842 3,842 $125

Sears Holdings: Alan Lacy has resigned as Sears’ CEO and vice chairman of the board of directors for both Sears Holdings and Sears Canada. Former AutoNation and iVillage.com CFO Craig Monaghan has joined Sears as CFO. Williams-Sonoma: Howard Lester, this multichannel home furnishings merchant’s chairman since 1986, has been named CEO, a post he previously held from 1979 to 2001. He replaces Ed Mueller, who resigned in late July after less than three years at the helm. Mueller will remain with the company as director. Laura Alber has been promoted to president of Williams-Sonoma from her previous role as president of Pottery Barn Brands.

When postage rates increase, catalogers really feel the pinch. For example, in January of this year, we experienced a 5.4 percent rate hike. This was the first rate increase since June 2002 (which, at the time, was the third increase in two years). Brace yourself for yet another increase in 2007. What’s more, rumor has it the U.S. Postal Service wants to increase rates again in 2008, which would make three rate hikes in three years. These increases could be steep enough to push some smaller catalogers over the edge. They could mean the difference between profit and loss on an income statement.

Postage costs represent about 40 percent of total catalog marketing expenses. Don't let next year's rate increase catch you off-guard. When postage rates increase, catalogers really feel the pinch. For example, in January of this year, we experienced a 5.4 percent rate hike. This was the first rate increase since June 2002 (which, at the time, was the third increase in two years). Brace yourself for yet another increase in 2007. What's more, rumor has it the U.S. Postal Service wants to increase rates again in 2008, which would make three rate hikes in

In my previous columns, I’ve talked a great deal about direct selling expenses — e.g., paper, printing, postage, list rental — and why these expenses need to be separated on the income statement. This month, I offer a slightly different twist by relating direct selling expenses to recency segments of the housefile. I’ll demonstrate how overmailing the housefile can and will increase this key ratio, and why not all housefile segments should be mailed in every drop. Typically, direct selling expenses range from 25 percent to 35 percent for consumer catalog companies and 15 percent to 22 percent for business-to-business catalogers. In order

By Stephen R. Lett In my previous columns, I've talked a great deal about direct selling expenses — e.g., paper, printing, postage, list rental — and why these expenses need to be separated on the income statement. This month, I offer a slightly different twist by relating direct selling expenses to recency segments of the housefile. I'll demonstrate how overmailing the housefile can and will increase this key ratio, and why not all housefile segments should be mailed in every drop. Typically, direct selling expenses range from 25 percent to 35 percent for consumer catalog companies and 15 percent to 22 percent