The Real Driver of Catalog Circulation
The future of omnichannel marketing includes catalogs. Therefore, we're beginning to see an increase in catalog circulation. Here are a few noteworthy quotes from a recent article by Michael Dart and Greg Ellis from Kurt Salmon Consulting:
- "Lands’ End presented a pop-up survey to customers placing orders on its website asking if they had first looked at the catalog. Seventy-five percent of them said ‘yes.’"
- "The power of the printed page — 86 percent of consumers have bought an item after first seeing it in a catalog."
- "Catalogs are effective not only at getting people to spend money compared to online-only customers, but those who use catalogs return more often."
This spring, Lett Direct, Inc., conducted its annual circulation survey that included 100 catalog companies. The results of the survey can be found in the chart below:
- Companies:
- Lett Direct Inc.
- People:
- Greg Ellis
- Michael Dart
Steve Lett graduated from Indiana University in 1970 and immediately began his 50-year career in Direct Marketing; mainly catalogs.
Steve spent the first 25 years of his career in executive level positions at both consumer and business-to-business companies. The next 25 years have been with Lett Direct, Inc., the company Steve founded in early 1995. Lett Direct, Inc., is a catalog and internet consulting firm specializing in circulation planning, plan execution, analysis and digital marketing (Google Premier Partner).
Steve has served on the Ethics Committee of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and on a number of company boards, both public and private. He served on the Board of the ACMA. He has been the subject of two Harvard Business School case studies. He is the author of a book, Strategic Catalog Marketing. Steve is a past Chairman of both the Catalog Council and Business Mail Council of the DMA. He spent a few years teaching Direct Marketing at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
You can contact Steve at stevelett@lettdirect.com.
