SupportPlus is hoping to double its response rate by doubling the size of its mini-catalogs.
The Medfield, MA firm will insert the 7-inch-by-11-inch pieces next month in some 300,000 fulfillment packages.
Late last year, the company placed 3-1/2-inch-by-5-1/2-inch mini-catalogs into roughly the same number of packages, pulling a response rate of .037%. Those inserts, featuring orthopedic socks and support devices, went out with products ranging from cosmetics to incontinence supplies and wigs, says SupportPlus chief executive officer Edward Janos.
SupportPlus spent about 10.5 cents per person to acquire customers using package inserts. But the cost of acquisition for its regular eight-time-a-year catalog is “about five times higher,” Janos says. “The mini-catalog is a great low-cost customer acquisition tool.”
This mini-catalog features such products as $7.95 ankle-high cotton soles, $19.95 heating pads and arthritis packs.
The firm's regular catalog offers a greater variety of orthopedic and support products, and usually gets response rates from about 1.3% to 9% depending on the list to which it is mailed. An average order runs $27, Janos notes.
The new insertions will go into packages sent to purchasers by AARP. The package list was developed by Leon Henry Inc. and The Other List Company.
Most of SupportPlus' customers are women. Their median age is 64.
Janos says he got the idea to start the mini-catalog in 2002 after meeting with Vernon L. Carson, president of Web Direct Marketing Inc. in Wheeling, IL, who developed the concept more than 30 years ago.
“What the mini is supposed to do for a cataloger is overcome the high cost of prospecting,” Carson explains. “You can print and mail in a ride-along environment for as little as 10 cents [per piece].”
In addition to its catalogs, SupportPlus gets some sales from its Web site (www.supportplus.com). However, Janos concedes that his customers are not necessarily the best prospects for online marketing.
“Most of our customers don't even have computers,” he says.
