How to Keep Your Catalog Humming

YOU’RE IN A ROUTINE. Business is moving along OK. Sure, there are plenty of fires and crises but you’re handling them — probably so well that you are forgetting to “service check” your catalog operation. What are some areas that you should be looking at regularly to make sure your book is not only staying on course, but improving in every way possible?

• The financial plan

  Some would say this is a no-brainer, but many companies create an initial plan and then neglect to update it. Continually test your plan to improve every aspect. Concentrate on upgrading response, boosting margin and reducing costs, as all these areas will provide bottom-line help.

• Merchandise philosophy and strategy

  Is the catalog’s merchandise selection keeping up with changing times? Certainly you’ll be checking analyses of what sells, but beyond that, understand changes in the sales environment and their effect on your product mix.

The last time we headed into a recession, reps from Sharper Image were quoted as saying that the company may have moved too slowly in adapting a frankly luxurious product line to one that was more practical for belt-tightening times. Subsequent merchandise moves helped matters along, but Sharper Image knows now that it would’ve been better off if it had caught on faster to how consumers’ thinking had changed.

In addition, make sure you appreciate how seasonality affects the overall line and individual products as well. Re-evaluate price points, keeping price hurdles out of key positions and key offerings. At the same time, go for as much margin as you can squeeze out of each item. Keep your average order up by bundling (putting items together at a reduced total price), cross-referencing and including lower-ticket add-ons.

Don’t just react to sales, but have a concrete merchandise expansion plan in writing. Where do you want to be two, three, five years from now? Is the catalog size, format and overall layout providing the absolute best platform to showcase the products? Are you consistently and cautiously testing expansion categories? Remember that Lands’ End started life as a yachting supplies catalog before new product introductions eventually shaped its current image.

Is the merchandise adding to the catalog’s overall effect or just sitting for sale on the page? Create a criteria checklist that each item must pass in order to be included in the book. What motivations to purchase are part of your catalog philosophy? It’s not enough for you to know what they are; make certain they’re clear to your target market through visual and verbal reinforcement in the catalog.

What percentage of your products is exclusive? Exclusivity can strengthen your book’s image but also can create inventory concerns. Balance both needs by easing exclusives into the fold, testing non-exclusive but similar items for their sales appeal.

• Creative philosophy and strategy

  These days, it seems that creative is aging even faster than merchandise. Though it depends somewhat on how often the catalog is mailed to customers, it’s not unusual for catalogs to be freshened every couple of years. Tweaking, not redoing, is what’s required here.

Don’t dump your creative approach, just keep it interesting through new photography (you will most likely use less pick-up photography than previously), imaginative type treatments (like the addition of editorial or endorsements), diversity in item density (per spread, not for the entire catalog), and so on.

Take a serious look at your creative team. Is it providing fresh ideas or just resting on its laurels? Has it kept up with the contemporary techniques that are being used by other catalogers? Has it been wise enough to know when to adopt a new technique as well as when not to because that technique is not advantageous to marketing?

Keeping cost containment in mind means frequently reviewing whether what you’ve been doing is necessary. Do you really need to have an order form in every catalog? Some find that it’s not worth the extra cost. What about paper weight and grade? What’s your competition doing? Could you take advantage of the fact that they may be using lighter weight paper, allowing you to cut some expenses from your production budget?

What innovative production tricks are right for your catalog? Should you ink-jet messages on the back or the cover? What about those little tabs that some catalogers have been using to allow customers to “bookmark” their catalog? Ink-jetting, when it’s relevant to the customer and right for a catalog’s image, can create a sales lift. Tabs, due to their expense, have not proven as effective, but every new idea should be evaluated for its potential value. Spot the innovations in other catalogs or at trade shows and investigate them.

This is the first of two columns on improving catalog performance. Part 2 will appear in the April issue.

KATIE MULDOON is president of DM/catalog consulting firm Muldoon & Baer Inc., Tequesta, FL.