In previous years I started saving up my holiday catalogs in midsummer. I’d sometimes even log the date they arrived. Then, when holiday shopping time rolled around, I’d sort through the stack and tabulate which companies and niches sent me the most paper. This would be followed, of course, by a round of holiday shopping, and then I’d share how various marketers fared in this space.
This year I decided to do things a bit differently, and approach the project more like a typical shopper, who wouldn’t save every single Pottery Barn Kids book from July to December before she shopped. This year I’d just put aside the best of the best and share those with you.
Now, as I finish off the leftover trick-or-treat candy, it’s time to pony up. The problem is, the stable’s kind of empty.
It’s not that the majority of catalogs that came into my home were bad. It’s just that they were same old, same old. Nothing new really caught my eye or made me say wow.
The catalog that’s garnered the most mind share in our home since late summer is, without a doubt, Birthday Express. My son Jacob appropriated the book the day it arrived and spent many hours perusing its pages in anticipation of what theme he’d like for his 4th birthday. We even had to read the thing out loud to him several nights before he went to bed.
He’s put a lot of thought into the catalog, and has come up with several themes for not only his birthday, but his brother’s, father’s and mine as well. (Currently, he’s undecided whether Wonder Woman or Disney Princesses best suit his mom.)
Of course, the problem here is that he has no direct purchasing power. He just wants what he wants, and doesn’t care whether it comes from Birthday Express, a party shop or a discount retailer.
Speaking of retailers, I really enjoyed Pier 1’s “Holiday Entertaining” book that dropped in late October. The pink-and-red theme on the cover was striking, and I saw many things I’d like to check out in-store before buying. And there was even a 20%-off coupon toward my next retail purchase. Fabulous. But where is my nearest store? A digital-printed callout on the back cover would have been great, as the Pier 1 in my town closed last year.
The Container Store missed the same boat in its nifty little “Stocking Stuffer Spectacular” book. While an 800 number and URL were featured on every spread, the booklet of little gadgets all under $35 has “retail traffic driver” stamped all over it. Why not list the area locations to give that traffic some direction?
I noticed with amusement that the vast majority of offerings in the Wine Country Gift Baskets catalog — including the cover-featured Godiva assortment — did not include wine. This is no doubt because wine can’t be shipped to numerous states. Still, it’s a funny situation. Maybe the company’s moniker could be changed to “Wine Country Gift Baskets — If You Live in AK, CA, DC, FL, HI, IA, ID, IL, LA, MN, MO, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OH, OR, TX, VA, WA, WV or WY.”
One catalog I put aside early in the process was Lands’ End Kids. They deserve a high-five for the nifty little “pull out and save” shoe size guide in the “Back to School 2006” book. Considering how children’s footwear sizes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, this is a nice feature for moms and dads. They definitely put their best (pun intended) foot forward.
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