I’m a consumer. And I’ve been buying more, and more, from online sources since the late 1990’s. And even when I choose to purchase an item locally, I conduct any research via the Web. It’s not even worth noting the reasons in favor of this approach, because we all know them.
But until the Web can deliver a physical, tactile experience, online shopping will never fully eliminate my intermittent desire to browse through a printed catalog.
With that said, you’d think I’d be delighted to return from an extended holiday break and find a foot-tall stack of mail order catalogs waiting for me. I wasn’t. Of the 30+ catalogs, not one had I requested, or even opted-in to receive. And worse(!) these catalogs were all so horribly designed and printed that none were worth the effort to open. The lot of them were placed directly in the recycle bin.
Martin Schneider’s similarly stuffed mailbox prompted him to blog about it at CRM Outsiders (a great blog by the way and included in The Best CRM Blogs of 2008 list) in a post titled Catalogs - Sending the Wrong Message with Direct Mail?
Martin brings up some great points about the inefficiency, costs and environmental factors of catalogs that I fully agree with, however he loses me when he suggests that retailers “will do more to show they are in line with their customers by reducing or eliminating the printed catalog.” I’m empathetic with the frustration, but there are printed catalogs I would hate to do without.
A recent example of a retailer getting their mail-order catalog right is Snow Peak. Snow Peak, for those of you who don’t know, is a 50-year old Japanese company that designs and builds outdoor living tools (luxury tents, kitchen gear, sleeping systems, etc.). Their products are made to last a lifetime, and their Outdoor Lifestyle Catalog is no exception.
The Snow Peak Outdoor Lifestyle Catalog is exceptionally designed and printed. It has beautiful photography and product imagery. It has 345 pages, more than 30 of which are of philosophical ponderings and poetry. The catalog tells a story and is arranged in a clear, logical fashion. It is inspiring and helpful. It was not sent to me until I asked for it. I could go on and on.
The bottom line: the Snow Peak catalog moved me from considering a few products to purchasing a few products. It positively reinforced my opinion of their brand. And it is sitting on my bookshelf today.
This is why I cannot agree outright with Martin’s comment; a number of retailers do do a fantastic job with their printed catalogs. But, the reality is many don't. If it’s more likely than not that a catalog travels directly from mailbox to recycle box, it’s time to address the issue.
Retailers, in my opinion, will do more to show they are in line with their customers—not by reducing or eliminating their printed catalogs—but by thoughtfully considering their customers.
Stop the unsolicited mailings. Improve the catalog. Redesign it. Print it well. Tell a story. Make the catalog so good that customers seek it out. Make the catalog so good that customers not only buy from it, but become true fans of what you are doing.
In short, treat printed catalogs as an end, not a means.
Do you know of other retailers building fans with exceptional catalogs? Leave a comment to let us know about them. Any thoughts about why the good-to-bad ratio is so unbalanced? And more importantly, is there anything to be done about it – or are we stuck with what we have?
7 Comments
Justin, you might consider tryingto opt out of any undesirable catalog subscriptions via http://www.catalogchoice.org .
Justin,
Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com), an Internet and catalog retailer of consumer electronics, has a fantastic catalog and they've been doing it well for over 30 years. Not only is the catalog well done, but they have the best telephone customer service in the consumer electronics industry. The staff is very knowledgeable about the products they they sell. I'm a fan of the catalog and always look through it to see what's new and interesting.
Thanks for the reminder about the opt-out service Craig. Too bad there is not a reverse list of wonderful catalogs we could opt-in to receive. That would be interesting.
Thanks for the suggestion about Crutchfield. It’s been years since I’ve received their catalog, but do remember it as one of the better ones – and I did purchase a number of car audio products from it. I remember they had really useful charts to help you know what size speakers to buy, etc.
Adding the Patagonia catalog to the list. I've received this catalog for so long I've about taken it for granted. The essays, photography and field reports are all first-class and inspiring; with the products playing a supporting role.
You can request a catalog from the customer service section of their Web site: http://www.patagonia.com. Or better yet, pick one up at a retail location if you can before signing up to receive it.
Speaking of the all important environmental factors of catalogs, ForestEthics (http://www.forestethics.org), a nonprofit environmental organization, recently published their 3rd Annual Catalog Environmental Scorecard (http://www.forestethics.org/article.php?id=2259) evaluating retailers according to criteria about the source, certification, and amount of post-consumer recycled content in their direct mailings.
ForestEthics reports "[e]very year, the catalog industry as a whole sends out more than 20 billion catalogs — that's 67 catalogs for every man, woman, and child in America." Staggering to think about.
I’d love to see Chris Jordan (http://www.chrisjordan.com/) turn this statistic into an image for his “Running the Numbers” project. Perhaps he could start a sub-project to bring attention to the responsibilities of corporations (as opposed to individuals)…
Justin,
Your response to my initial post was very indicative of the response I got across the board (while my mailbox was stuffed with catalogs, my inbox was stuffed with a lot of responses - some not so nice as yours).
I think I was too hasty in calling for the death of print catalogs...and it's good to see a lot of people clued in to the opt out tools - as I see above.
In all, as a former journalist, I agree that "telling a story" makes the catalog experience enjoyable and better illustrates the type of culture and brand identity a company is looking to put forward.
In short, I enjoyed your take on my post and the added insight you provided...thanks.
-Martin