Norm Thompson

Number one catalog shopping app doubles offering and "wows" users with innovative visual search SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- INTERNET RETAILER CONFERENCE (BOOTH #2038) -- Catalog Spree, the number one catalog shopping app, today announced new retailers and a major update to its popular digital catalog mall. New partners include classic retailers such as: HammacherSchlemmer, Sundance, Woolrich, Bullock & Jones, Gump's, Coldwater Creek, Bra Smyth, Uno Alla Volta, Cooking Enthusiast, Norm Thompson, Sahalie, U.S. Toy and Wine Enthusiast. "HammacherSchlemmer had been looking to extend its historic catalog to iPad, but we couldn't find a partner that offered

Patient: Doc, our catalog works great for our core audience. We know this because we get tons of love letters from customers. So why can’t we improve response rates and grow faster? Catalog Doctor: Just like building your body, building a strong core audience for your catalog is important. But if you only work on your core, you may be leaving the rest of yourself weak. Patient: You mean, like strong abs aren’t enough? I also have to build up my arms and legs? Catalog Doctor: Exactly. You must focus harder on selling to your marginal audience, not just your core. Make it

When planning a Web site redesign, a definitive plan can make the process easier. Debbie Hess, Internet marketing director for multititle gift and apparel cataloger Norm Thompson Outfitters, shared her step-by-step plan for Norm Thompson’s recent multi-site redesign process during a session at the Internet Retailer conference held last week in Chicago. 1. Seek first to understand. Because of the many areas of an e-commerce site that can be affected by a redesign, it’s important to know how your current Web site works in explicit detail, Hess said. Before the company’s recent redesign, Hess consulted internal stakeholders familiar with the inner workings of the site,

By Paul Miller Fueled with fresh capital, CEO Geralynn Madonna & co. have revived, repositioned and run Spiegel into profitability. Just three years ago, the industry, the financiers and the media (including this writer) had all written off the Spiegel catalog as a soon-to-be goner. The mere notion that it would turn a profit again or even mail again seemed a pipe dream. But having emerged a couple of years ago from near liquidation along with its sister title Newport News, Spiegel now is thriving, having nudged its way into the black a little less than a year ago. "The big story was

Myth vs. reality: the debate about using recycled paper in catalogs By Gabrielle Mosquera Enough wood to make a 6-foot fence stretching across the United States seven times, or to make copy paper for 18.2 million people. That's how much the entire catalog industry could save if it used paper composed of just 10-percent postconsumer recycled content, according to experts. A study by the Alliance for Environmental Innovation (the Alliance), a project of Environmental Defense, a nonprofit organization, revealed that despite such potential environmental savings, most catalogers instead print their pages on virgin (non-recycled) paper. Several industry experts largely attribute catalogers'

By Gretchen Kirby Peck Advertising-insert programs: How to make them work for your catalog. Despite a rocky 2002 economy, catalogers are forging ahead, turning their attention to new manufacturing practices to support—and, in some cases, supplement—their sales efforts. Order forms aren't the only things you'll find nestled in your favorite catalog these days. Increasingly, catalogers are partnering with third-party mailers to insert advertising into catalog pages. And the ads are taking myriad forms, most commonly as blow-in and bind-in inserts. (Blow-ins are loose ad inserts, while bind-ins are inserts that are bound into the book.) For catalogers, these initiatives often