(Multichannel Merchant) After testing the category for more than a year, discounted apparel, footwear, and outdoor gear merchant Sierra Trading Post has spun off a home products title.
The first edition of Sierra Home & Gift book mailed Sept. 24 to 300,000 customers. “We have been planning this title for about a year and have been extensively testing home and gift related items in several of our catalogs,” says Sierra Trading Post’s director of catalog operations David Giacomini.
Sierra Trading had received numerous comments from online surveys indicating customers wanted more home items and gift. The mailer began merchandising home and gift related goods in its core catalog to test the receptiveness of the category, Giacomini says. The performance of those pages “prompted us to launch a distinct catalog to better meet this demand.”
The 64-page slim-jim-size catalog sells clearance priced products for the home, with savings ranging from 35% to 70%. The Cheyenne, WY-based company mails eight other titles: Sierra Trading Post, Sierra Traditions for Men, Sierra Woman Traditions, Sierra Woman, Sierra Adventure Edge, Sierra Outdoors, Sierra Shoes, and Hot Deals.
Giacomini says the Sierra Trading Post plans one more mailing of the home book during the holiday season, with a similar circulation. The future strategy includes “rolling out more aggressively next year with more mailings and increased circulation,” he says.
The May postal rate hike was “a major consideration for us this year, as the rate increase was rather significant,” Giacomini notes. “The initial plan for the launch of Sierra Home & Gift was for a wide format catalog. We also had numerous test results of wide vs. slim format with our other catalogs and, as result, felt comfortable with going forward with a slim format. We also took a fairly conservative approach with circulation and segmentation during our rollout of this catalog title.”
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