• "In spite of web stores, shopping tools and apps, paper catalogs are still surprisingly effective at selling stuff. More than half of online shoppers said they browse catalogs and almost one-third of people making an internet purchase have a catalog on hand when they click "Buy," according to a new survey by Kurt Salmon, a global retail consultancy. A whopping 86 percent of the survey's respondents bought an item after first seeing it in a catalog." (2013-11-08, Retail Online Integration, "Why the Analog Catalog Still Drives Digital Sales")
• Catalog recipients account for 22 percent of traffic to a cataloger's Web site and 37 percent of its e-commerce dollars.
• Catalog recipients make 16 percent more visits to that company's Web site, view 22 percent more pages and spend 14 percent more time at the Web site than those who did not receive a catalog.
• Catalog recipients are twice as likely to purchase online. They also purchase more often and spend more on each purchase occasion.
• The total dollars spent on a Web site by a catalog recipient is $39 compared to $18 for consumers who did not receive a catalog.
• Catalog recipients account for 22 percent of traffic to a cataloger's Web site and 37 percent of its e-commerce dollars.
• Catalog recipients make 16 percent more visits to that company's Web site, view 22 percent more pages and spend 14 percent more time at the Web site than those who did not receive a catalog.
• Catalog recipients are twice as likely to purchase online. They also purchase more often and spend more on each purchase occasion.
• The total dollars spent on a Web site by a catalog recipient is $39 compared to $18 for consumers who did not receive a catalog.

Make sure you have identified the best target audience for the merchandise and offers being made. Profile your best customers. Append demographic (firmographic), psychographic, lifestyle data to develop a more complete picture of who they are. Develop a ‘customer profile’ (‘buyer persona’) (if this is a new venture who you think your best customer might be). And, select list sources that have customers that match your profile (persona).

The differences between catalog marketing and Website / Internet marketing that you need to know and keep in mind when you, an Internet marketer are launching your first print / direct mail catalog include:

• Customers will find your website via some kind of search, but they receive your catalog because you targeted them.
• A consumer spends perhaps only seconds on your web site or any particular page, but could keep your catalog around for weeks or months.
• Catalog merchandise is arranged in groups on a page or spread which compliments each item with another item, and this is not necessarily so on web sites.

The first step in launching a catalog is doing the catalog feasibility study. It's during this process that critical factors that ultimately determine the success of a catalog are identified.

Defining the purpose, objectives and goals of the catalog are the first step in conducting the feasibility study. What is the purpose of your catalog? Is your catalog going to be a front end marketing, back end marketing tool or combination of both? You need to answer this question, because it will affect how you approach the basics for catalog success. These basics are:

• Right market positioning
• Right merchandise
• Right position and grouping of merchandise
• Right graphics
• Right use of color
• Right size
• Right copy
• Right sales stimulants

After defining the purpose and objectives of the catalog, the next step is to conduct a detailed market analysis. You'll want to look at what segment(s) of the market you will want to go after. What are the characteristics of that market? How big is it? What are the growth rates, trends, etc.? Based on this analysis, you'll want to define your primary and secondary target markets and what the consumer's needs are in these markets. You'll want to take a hard look at the competitors already serving these market segments. Do you or can you create a market advantage over the competition and besides competition what other factors or problems may be associated with your entering this market? Something that plays a huge factor in catalog marketing success is prior direct marketing and catalog experience. Do you have expertise to this kind of experience? It takes years to learn how to be an effective catalog marketer.

After you have conducted the market analysis, you'll want to develop the business concept definition. It is at this stage that you define your product strategy, offer strategy and USP (unique selling proposition). Then you'll want to address your promotional strategy, advertising and creative execution. The business concept also involves developing your fulfillment and staffing strategies, and the relationship of the catalog to your base business if it's associated other multi-channel marketing efforts such as retail distribution.

Next you define the financial objectives and conduct the breakeven analysis for the catalog. You need to project sales, earnings, budgets, funding requirements, payout/payback, ROI, and conduct breakeven analysis on the business.

What are the problems and risks associated with your launching a catalog? What are the effects on the base business and associated inventory risks. And, finally you need to be honest and identify the problems and risks associated with your missing your financial projections.

There are four types of catalogs: retail, full line merchandise, business to business and specialty. And these can be broken down into retail vs. direct order and index vs. impulse catalogs. The retail catalog is designed to drive store traffic and tend to arrange merchandise by category rather than some theme, color or other thread. The direct order book is designed to elicit an immediate order for direct shipment. Index books tend to function on a predetermined need basis. Impulse books on the other hand tend to be item representation designed to promote an emotional and immediate response. They stimulate a latent or previously unrecognized need on the part of the customer.

After doing the catalog feasibility study, the next step is to develop the catalog business plan and doing so is critical to the success of the catalog. The business plan is composed of the merchandising, marketing, fulfillment, financial and supporting people plans. It includes these components:

1. Merchandising Plan
• Product Selection (The Method)
• Inventory Control (Turns, Buying, Rebuying, Projecting)
• Product Analysis
• Excessive Inventory Disposal
2. Marketing Plan
• Customer List Development (Name Acquisition)
• The Creative Image (Niche)
• Creative Execution (Inside or Outside)
• Test Plan and Method of Evaluation
• The Annual Mailing Schedule
3. Fulfillment Plan
• Order Processing
• Data Processing
• Warehousing, Picking, Packing and Shipping
• Customer Service
• Credit and Controls
4. Financial Plan
• Breakeven Analysis
• Annual Financial Plan
• Name Flow
• Order Flow
• Five Year Financial Plan
• Cash Flow
• Return on Sales
• Return on Investment
5. People Plan
• The last part of the business plan is setting down the numbers and types of people and specializations that you will need to manage and run your catalog business.
• Where will these people come from? In-house? Outside?
• What of the people functions need to be in-house and what if any can be provided by outside suppliers?
• How many will be needed at each stage to help reach your financial objectives?

 To see a typical 5 Year catalog business plan template, click this link.  

1. Define audience. Determine who will be receiving the catalog. Determine the customer and prospect demographic, psychographic, lifestyle and other characteristics that are important.
2. Define product / service offering. Determine what products and services will be offered in the catalog. Step 1 and 2 may be reversed depending on the current status of the business. For example, a company already selling products / services over the Internet already has their product (service) defined, in which case they would move to the next step, defining the audience for the catalog.
3. Define catalog positioning / niche. Determine how will the catalog be positioned verses the competition. Determine what niche will the catalog occupy.
4. Define offer / selling proposition. Determine what will be the overall offer. This includes pricing, payment terms / offer, shipping and handling offer / terms, customer services, customer support, etc.
5. Select target media. Select the media that will be used to promote / mail the catalog – mailing lists; advertisements in publications, electronic media; etc.
6. Develop catalog creative. Select catalog format; prepare catalog copy, prepare catalog design; catalog production (printing, etc.).
7. Develop fulfillment plan and operations. Put in place processes and operations for order processing and tracking; shipping of orders.
8. Use a database to capture and maintain prospect and customer mailing, response and order data – this may be part of an existing CRM system and in the case of a company already selling direct to the consumer over the Internet, they will already have such a system in place.
9. Analysis of catalog results.

Catalog success is dependent up:

• Having a plan.
• Having the appropriate financial support.
• Having a clear identity/niche.
• Knowing who your customer.
• Understanding the creative nuances of catalogs.
• Having a solid new customer acquisition plan.
• Building a customer house list.
• Making the catalog profitable.
• Having adequate fulfillment and customer services
• Having sound inventory control plan.

Consumer perception is an important factor in determining the success or failure of a catalog. The four catalog or catalog related characteristics that affect success are:

• Perceived exclusivity - does the customer have a high level of confidence that the products represented in the catalog cannot be widely or easily found?
• Perceived authority of offer.
• Perceived value of offer.
• Perceived satisfaction – do the customers feel they will be totally satisfied if they purchase from your offer?

A catalog should have most, if not all, of these elements to be successful:

• Attractive, interesting, useful and solid merchandise
• Acceptable pricing
• Merchandise must have a common theme
• Merchandise must be displayed well
• Offer a solid money-back guarantee
• Include testimonials from satisfied customers
• Make order blank clear and easy to use
• 800 toll free service
• Website URL address to place orders
• Online customer support and service
• Should support web and mobile marketing efforts