We’ve all heard of brick-and-mortar marketers using their print catalog experience to launch an e-commerce site. The Museum Co. intends to use its experience with an e-commerce site to start a print catalog. And its site only debuted May 1, mind you.
According to Joe Budd, Museum company.com’s vice president of marketing, the print catalog will be a joint venture between the Internet outfit and its sister/parent firm, The Museum Co. (The international retail chain gives back part of its profits to the museums from which it sources products.)
The first print pieces will be ready in about three months. They’ll focus on seasonal items not widely available in the retail branches. The initial mailing, offering products for the winter holiday season, will use in-house and rental lists. That plan mirrors the Web site intro.
The Charlottesville, VA-based site will be promoted this summer with an e-mail campaign. Plans haven’t been finalized, but Budd indicates the effort will feature an incentive.
The in-house e-mail list was compiled largely from customers who ordered from The Museum Co. through a portal site. Although Budd refuses to name the portal, he stresses the relationship between the two companies is cordial.
The promo’s target will be what Budd characterizes as “the Nordstrom customer” – prospects who go to museums, like art and design reproductions, or are looking for gifts. She is between 35 and 55, college educated, and has an average household income of $60,000.
Another element of the promotion will be a package insert program that adds fliers to the shopping bags of retail customers as well as the usual inserts in shipped orders.
In addition, Museumcompany.com is looking for affiliate relationships with sites having similar audiences, such as iVillage, Women.com and PlanetOut.
The site was designed for ease of use, especially in fulfillment, says Budd. Since almost two out of three Museum Co. customers are gift-givers, the Web site paid special attention to multiple orders sent to different addresses. Furthermore, he says, if an order comes in by 2 p.m., it’s shipped by 5 p.m.
New York-based iXL designed the site. Submitorder.com, Columbus, OH, is handling customer service and fulfillment.
Museumcompany.com now has only 1,000 items for sale. Budd expects a “full inventory” of Museum Co. offerings to be online soon, which would give the site more items than the stores. However, he adds, it’s not economically viable for the site to carry products under $20.
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