During 2009, Delia’s adjusted circulation and page counts of its two catalog brands. Despite, this catalog revenue fell from 2008’s level. Even worse, the number of households in which someone has either made a purchase or requested a catalog within the last two years dropped from 2.6 million in 2008 to 2.2 million during 2009.
Here’s how the numbers shake out: the company increased circulation of its flagship Delia’s catalog from 21.6 million copies in 2008 to 22.7 million catalogs. But at the same time, it cut its Alloy brand catalog circulation from 24.9 million to 23.3 million – a net loss of 500,000 for the two titles.
Page counts within the Delia’s catalogs ranged between 60 and 92 pages during 2009, compared with between 56 and 96 pages during 2008. But Alloy’s page counts were larger than in 2008, with catalogs containing between52 and 84 pages, compared with between 48 and 80 pages in 2008. The company did not release circulation figures for each level.
There is an interesting tidbit in seeming boilerplate language within Delia’s risk factors discussions. Cross-promotion efforts between Alloy and Delia’s lists “has resulted in generally lower response rates from the Delia’s catalogs customers who also are sent Alloy catalogs and vice-versa,” according to the company’s annual financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
That said, “Additional cross-mailings of such catalogs could result in further such response rate declines. Although it is our expectation that the additional sales generated by such cross-mailing will more than offset the declines in response rate, we can give no assurance that these expectations will be realized.”
The company’s catalog revenue clocked in at $17.9 million in 2009, down from $19 million in 2008 and just under $24 million in 2007.
The teen-and-tween apparel marketer’s Internet sales did rise in 2009, however, offsetting the losses in catalog sales. Online sales reached $87.5 million in 2009, up from $83.6 million in 2008. E-commerce sales made up 83% of the company’s direct marketing revenue during 2009, up from 81% in 2008.
During 2009, the company sent out an average of 8.4 million e-mails per week to its opt-in lists, up from 7.8 million a year earlier.
Total direct revenue for Delia’s was $105.4 million during 2009, up from $102.6 million a year earlier. Retail revenue, in part on the strength of a net of eight new stores, rose from $113.1 million to $118.5 million.
Gross profit for the direct marketing segment was $47.2 million, or 44.8% of direct revenue, compared with $48.2 million, or 47% of direct revenue. Delia’s attributed the decline in gross profit percentage to increased clearance-priced merchandise sales, and greater promotional activity.
