Recycling catalogs can be a chore at home, when that avalanche of glossy, four-color print threatens to bust out the sides of the blue bin. But online marketers of all sizes are embracing catalog recycling with gusto by putting their catalogs up on the Web site as well as in the mail, and reaping important new sales as a result.

It’s a cross-channel marketing effort that seems to be picking up steam. E-commerce consulting firm The e-Tailing Group conducts a “mystery online shopper” study of the top 100 retail sites during the holiday season since 2002. This past season’s study found that among retailers who already offer a print catalog, growing numbers are migrating that book to their Web site: 66% in 2004, compared to 40% in ’03 and 32% in ’02.

While the e-Tailing Group study looks at such high-powered online sellers as Land’s End and J. Jill, the trend to online catalogs shows up among smaller retailers as well. Chelsea & Scott operates two online shopping sites offering products for parents: One Step Ahead sells infant clothing and paraphernalia, while Leaps and Bounds targets parents of kids with toys and travel gear. Both sites offer to let customers “Shop Our Virtual Catalog”, and both have experienced higher conversions, especially among first-time buyers.

“We’ve been a catalog-based company for 15 years,” says Rachel Pendon, director of Chelsea & Scott’s Internet operations. “So that customer base is very important to us, and anything we can do to make their online experience easier will be valuable.”

For the end-user, one of those benefits is ease of Internet navigation. One advantage Web sites have over print catalogs is the ability to categorize products in multiple ways simultaneously: by solutions (“health’, “feeding”), by room (“bedroom”, “kitchen”), or by the age of the end-user. But those same multiple choices can be confusing to new visitors and drive some of them away from the site. Newbies accustomed to the linear organization of a print catalog may not understand that they can find sippy cups listed under both “feeding” and “travel”.

The One Step Ahead and Leaps and Bounds sites are more idiosyncratic in organization that those of their competitors, Pendon says. So site search is a manual process for them right now, a matter of entering keyword terms by hand. While the company looks to automate that function, having the catalog online is an important navigational aid.

“We know that a lot of our most popular items aren’t easy to find using standard site search,” Pendon says. “For instance, we sell a hypo-allergenic pillow. But our visitors are confused whether they’ll find that under ‘bedroom accessories’ or ‘health”. In those situations, if they’re shopping with the catalog in their hand, they can go to it right away using the online catalog version.” They can also avail themselves of the “catalog quick shop” feature that lets them enter an SKU number and go right to the item they want.

So having the catalog online helps some visitors find products more quickly. But interestingly, visitors who use the e-catalog feature at Chelsea & Scott’s sites also tend to read deeper and explore the site more. “We also find many visitors stay on the site after viewing the e-catalog, ending up at a very wide variety of areas ranging from the search page to individual product pages,” Pendon says. “Results tell me that the e-catalog feature is a way for visitors to become comfortable with our site by interacting with a virtual catalog that is identical to the one they received at home, while also acting as a funnel to move those visitors into other areas of our site and into the purchase process.”

Then there’s the simple ROI bump that comes from re-purposing their print catalog. Chelsea & Scott usually mails catalogs four times a year for each of its two brands. To get those books online, the company simply sends out to New York-based Rich FX the same .pdf file that they send to their printer. Rich FX has the e-catalog up and operating within days.

“You’ve already paid for the content and the photography for the print catalog,” Pendon says. “Just like a lot of programs that move online, the e-catalog is a lot cheaper than the print channel. The cost is reasonable, and we feel it’s worth our time to do it.”

Chelsea & Scott’s e-catalogs are highly functional Flash versions that load quickly and have the look and feel of the print products, right down to the ability to turn the page at the corners. Customers can choose from broadband and dial-up versions, depending on their connection; but since Chelsea & Scott sees a lot of traffic during working hours, the assumption is that many users are logging on from a high-speed modem at their office. When they do, they see the full spread pages that the print catalog offers and can zoom in on a single item, along with any accessories. Pull-down menus list available sizes and whether an item is in stock. And a table of contents lets users page directly to the section that interests them.

Pendon says the company has been offering the Flash version of its catalog for about a year now. Before that, they tried using an HTML version, but found that slow to load and unwieldy to use. The company measured a 72% increase in product views per unique visitor once it moved to Flash.

Offering an online catalog also provides another opportunity for customer contact in that Chelsea & Scott e-mails the e-catalog to its base a few days before the print version drops. “It’s a nice way to get them engaged with the company,” Pendon says.

The overall result has been higher conversions, at least among first-time customers at the two sites. Over the last holiday season, Pendon says, 79% of those who bought at the One Step Ahead site using the e-catalog were new buyers, as were a whopping 96% of those who used the Leaps and Bounds e-catalog.

Chelsea & Scott has no plans to change its catalog mailings as a result of this kind of online success. There are no plans to replace the print catalog with an e-mail version, for example. The key to success seems to be in the interaction of the two channels. “We’ve tested and noticed response rate changes and increased order values among those customers who received both the online and print catalogs,” Pendon says. “So we’re not going to change our business and mail fewer catalogs. If anything, I think we’re just enhancing the customer experience by letting them see our products in different media. By complementing what the catalog side of the business is doing, we feel that’s helping to build brand loyalty and giving them more ways to shop with us.”

Recycling catalogs can be a chore at home, when that avalanche of glossy, four-color print threatens to bust out the sides of the blue bin. But online marketers of all sizes are embracing catalog recycling with gusto by putting their catalogs up on the Web site as well as in the mail, and reaping important new sales as a result.

It’s a cross-channel marketing effort that seems to be picking up steam. E-commerce consulting firm The e-Tailing Group conducts a “mystery online shopper” study of the top 100 retail sites during the holiday season since 2002. This past season’s study found that among retailers who already offer a print catalog, growing numbers are migrating that book to their Web site: 66% in 2004, compared to 40% in ’03 and 32% in ’02.

While the e-Tailing Group study looks at such high-powered online sellers as Land’s End and J. Jill, the trend to online catalogs shows up among smaller retailers as well. Chelsea & Scott operates two online shopping sites offering products for parents: One Step Ahead sells infant clothing and paraphernalia, while Leaps and Bounds targets parents of kids with toys and travel gear. Both sites offer to let customers “Shop Our Virtual Catalog”, and both have experienced higher conversions, especially among first-time buyers.

“We’ve been a catalog-based company for 15 years,” says Rachel Pendon, director of Chelsea & Scott’s Internet operations. “So that customer base is very important to us, and anything we can do to make their online experience easier will be valuable.”

For the end-user, one of those benefits is ease of Internet navigation. One advantage Web sites have over print catalogs is the ability to categorize products in multiple ways simultaneously: by solutions (“health’, “feeding”), by room (“bedroom”, “kitchen”), or by the age of the end-user. But those same multiple choices can be confusing to new visitors and drive some of them away from the site. Newbies accustomed to the linear organization of a print catalog may not understand that they can find sippy cups listed under both “feeding” and “travel”.

The One Step Ahead and Leaps and Bounds sites are more idiosyncratic in organization that those of their competitors, Pendon says. So site search is a manual process for them right now, a matter of entering keyword terms by hand. While the company looks to automate that function, having the catalog online is an important navigational aid.

“We know that a lot of our most popular items aren’t easy to find using standard site search,” Pendon says. “For instance, we sell a hypo-allergenic pillow. But our visitors are confused whether they’ll find that under ‘bedroom accessories’ or ‘health”. In those situations, if they’re shopping with the catalog in their hand, they can go to it right away using the online catalog version.” They can also avail themselves of the “catalog quick shop” feature that lets them enter an SKU number and go right to the item they want.

So having the catalog online helps some visitors find products more quickly. But interestingly, visitors who use the e-catalog feature at Chelsea & Scott’s sites also tend to read deeper and explore the site more. “We also find many visitors stay on the site after viewing the e-catalog, ending up at a very wide variety of areas ranging from the search page to individual product pages,” Pendon says. “Results tell me that the e-catalog feature is a way for visitors to become comfortable with our site by interacting with a virtual catalog that is identical to the one they received at home, while also acting as a funnel to move those visitors into other areas of our site and into the purchase process.”

Then there’s the simple ROI bump that comes from re-purposing their print catalog. Chelsea & Scott usually mails catalogs four times a year for each of its two brands. To get those books online, the company simply sends out to New York-based Rich FX the same .pdf file that they send to their printer. Rich FX has the e-catalog up and operating within days.

“You’ve already paid for the content and the photography for the print catalog,” Pendon says. “Just like a lot of programs that move online, the e-catalog is a lot cheaper than the print channel. The cost is reasonable, and we feel it’s worth our time to do it.”

Chelsea & Scott’s e-catalogs are highly functional Flash versions that load quickly and have the look and feel of the print products, right down to the ability to turn the page at the corners. Customers can choose from broadband and dial-up versions, depending on their connection; but since Chelsea & Scott sees a lot of traffic during working hours, the assumption is that many users are logging on from a high-speed modem at their office. When they do, they see the full spread pages that the print catalog offers and can zoom in on a single item, along with any accessories. Pull-down menus list available sizes and whether an item is in stock. And a table of contents lets users page directly to the section that interests them.

Pendon says the company has been offering the Flash version of its catalog for about a year now. Before that, they tried using an HTML version, but found that slow to load and unwieldy to use. The company measured a 72% increase in product views per unique visitor once it moved to Flash.

Offering an online catalog also provides another opportunity for customer contact in that Chelsea & Scott e-mails the e-catalog to its base a few days before the print version drops. “It’s a nice way to get them engaged with the company,” Pendon says.

The overall result has been higher conversions, at least among first-time customers at the two sites. Over the last holiday season, Pendon says, 79% of those who bought at the One Step Ahead site using the e-catalog were new buyers, as were a whopping 96% of those who used the Leaps and Bounds e-catalog.

Chelsea & Scott has no plans to change its catalog mailings as a result of this kind of online success. There are no plans to replace the print catalog with an e-mail version, for example. The key to success seems to be in the interaction of the two channels. “We’ve tested and noticed response rate changes and increased order values among those customers who received both the online and print catalogs,” Pendon says. “So we’re not going to change our business and mail fewer catalogs. If anything, I think we’re just enhancing the customer experience by letting them see our products in different media. By complementing what the catalog side of the business is doing, we feel that’s helping to build brand loyalty and giving them more ways to shop with us.”