Catalog Circulation

Retailers have always been at the forefront of consumer needs. They know their markets and have adapted to meet them. From blade signs to the metaverse, retail has transformed itself over and over. But like many things, trends can be cyclical. And what used to work, then didn’t work, can ultimately work better than before.…

Not all direct marketers are familiar with matchbacks and why they're important. I thought it might be helpful to explain the matchback process and why it's a critical tool for evaluating results and developing mail plans. Matchbacks are the process of having your order file “matched back” against your recent mail files in order to…

In a direct marketing business, a customer list (i.e., housefile) is your most valuable asset. Therefore, it's important to manage your housefile and to keep it segmented and always up-to-date. To keep your housefile current, you need to merge/purge it regularly. What does this mean? Merge/purge is a process that identifies and removes unwanted or…

I want to discuss the basics of list segmentation and why it's an important part of maximizing profitability. Segmenting your customers (i.e., house file) will help you know who to mail and, just as important, who not to mail. The days of mailing your entire house file every mailing is over. It's time to begin…

The catalog printing world is in crisis. Paper prices continue to increase. Paper supplies are limited and catalogers often aren’t getting enough paper shipped to their printer to meet their press run requirements. Printers are “sold out” for the holiday 2022 season. Costs continue to increase for paper, postage, ink, and freight and fuel. Bindery…

As the pandemic has eased, catalogers are having to pivot to the new reality of the post-pandemic world. Most catalogers saw significant changes to their businesses with the onset of the pandemic. Now, most catalogers are seeing another shift as demand, response rates, and the basic business models shift again. How can catalogers understand the…

What would happen if you mail down to the breakeven point and stopped there? In other words, eliminate all the R-F-M cells that fall below the incremental breakeven point. This sounds like a financially smart thing to do, but is it? The cold, hard facts are that if you elected this mailing strategy it would…

The horrific pandemic caused people to stay home most of the year, which created a large spike in orders for many direct-to-consumer companies, both catalog and digital. The increase in demand was so significant that it caused issues for the supply chain. Many retailers scrambled to purchase inventory in order to meet the order demand…

Prices for catalog paper increased again on August 1. Paper price increases have continued over the past several months. Printers are now being allocated paper by the mills, which means printers aren't able to get all the paper they've ordered. As a result of this supply chain backlog, printers are sold out of press time…

The pandemic is fading. How can catalogers predict sales for the second half of the year? Here are some points to keep in mind: Catalogers are finding that their sales are decreasing or remaining steady depending on their merchandise category. Some categories were still white-hot this spring, with gardening being a prime example of a…