A. On-site: Explanation of current program status including:

• Introduction to marketing / operational team
• Company mission statement, philosophy, overall objectives
• Current mailing schedule vs. last year and prior if available
• Current eCommerce program and operations
• Hand out current and previous catalogs and review
• Overview of past and present sales, growth and customer acquisition success
• Overview of program marketing and operational costs (P&Ls if available)
• A review of problems/issues and primary points of concern

B. On-site: Examination of data captured during order entry and catalog request entry, and the availability of marketing, merchandising and sales information from the operating system including:

• Assessment of data entry and data capture capabilities
• Review all reports, their sources and uses
• Review all details known about customer base such as demographics, etc.

C. On-site: Examination of marketing strategies, programs and activities:

• Customer acquisition strategy vs. last year (review results vs. goals) (past years)
• Review current circulation plan, customer acquisition, mailing and merge purge strategy
• Review of eCommerce online programs
• Review current catalog request generation plan and strategy
• Review current house file make up with particular emphasis on number of 1 time buyers and complete review of RFM and/or other segmentation and or modeling techniques being used in order to:
• Evaluate current need for reactivation and/or retention plan
• Evaluate single vs. multi purchase customers and design appropriate re-mail strategy, etc.

D. On-site: Examination of merchandising and supporting fulfillment operations strategies and activities including:

• Merchandise changes and or merchandise philosophy
• Average units and average order values and response rates
• Assessment of back order situation, lost sales and other data capture information
• Assessment of current fulfillment turn around times, pick/pack issues, etc.

E. On-site: Examination of operational systems, procedures and activities that have an impact on customer service

• Review internal operations reports including receiving, quality assurance, inventory control, replenishment and picking, packing and shipping
• Review merchandise returns and backorder reports
• Review call center customer reports
• Review call center monitoring reports
• Review any customer satisfaction surveys and other direct customer feedback on service and merchandise.

A. Examination of on and offline catalog performance – marketing, merchandise, creative, circulation and competitive analysis

• Review marketing and characteristics, including:
• Branding
• Positioning in marketplace
• Selling proposition
• Presentation and effectiveness of essential customer information: ease of ordering, guarantees, customer services
• Offer assessment
• Review of creative, including:
• Overall visual presentation: layout, design, photography, propping, use of models, etc.
• Design features
• Copy and copy tone: effectiveness, features and benefits
• Merchandising analysis, including:
• Evaluation of merchandising concept and mix
• Merchandise organization
• Pagination and navigation
• Category analysis
• Pricing analysis
• Space analysis – square inch analysis
• Space utilization
• Profitability and revenue contribution analysis
• Circulation analysis, including:
• Circulation plan
• Mailing activity analysis
• Review of competitive catalogs in the same category – performance trends for those catalogs

B. Compellation of findings and production and presentation of eCommerce/catalog assessment report.