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December 28, 2005
Weighty marketing matters
During the past month, I received 14 pounds of catalogs in the mail. That's roughly a half-pound per day.
I didn't ask to receive any of them, either, a claim my postal carrier could hardly be blamed to question.
Yet companies well-known, and some of them not, sent me at least one, sometimes two, three or more catalogs between Nov. 21 and Dec. 22, 2005.
Fourteen pounds, and I'm not even a big shopper. With catalog-to-purchase rates hovering at 3.67%, (PDF) and the average catalog arriving as a full-color, 70-page production on semi-glossy, unrecycled paper, that's a significant level of waste (in time and resources) to convince about 3 people out of 100 to buy a Nascar Pocket Scanner with FM radio (Home Depot Direct).
A few numbers about the companies trying to reach my eyeballs via catalog in one month's time:
* Harry & David sent the most: 6
* Pottery Barn sent the largest: A 191-page book, weighing nearly a pound
* Pottery Barn sent the least relative: Pottery Barn for Kids (I'm kid-less)
* Percentage of companies from whom I had purchased an item in 2005: 45%
* Number of items I bought as a result of catalogs received: 0
I'm an online shopper, not a paper-catalog shopper. No level of improved catalog creative output or increased mailing frequency will change that. By now, all of the BigCo database marketing systems should be smart enough to parse this.
One solution: Sign up for a do-not-spam list... but it'll cost you $5 to register online vs. free if you, heh, send your info via snail-mail.
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I read with amusement your complaint abut receiving the catalogs and had to chuckle. I too am an online shopper but love getting the catalogs. Most websites are a horror to navigate. There are a few companies from whom I would not buy if not for their catalogs as their websites really "turn me off". My brother always orders my gifts online and I love the companies who are considerate enough to include a catalog with the order. They usually get my business sometime during the year.
So as far as I am concerned the availability of a print catalog increases the probability that I will patronize that company and will increase the dollar amount of my purchase.
Just thought I would give you the other side of your opinion. thanks
Hmmm.... Sounds like a bit like a Seinfeld episode! Please dont' tell me you're going to state a protest at the post office.
Seirously though, I'm an online shopper as well and if I look through a catalogue at all its as I'm carrying it from the kitchen table to the garbage can.
However, I do wonder whether the problem is simply more of a 'human nature' issue. In order for them to get your name off that mailing list intelligently, they'd need to put in a heck of alot of work. And despite the cost to print and send out the massive catalogue, it would take more energy and effort to come up with a system to pair down those million name lists.
It may cost a bit more, but it's easier to do 'spray and pray' marketing than truly targeted marketing.
Here in the UK you can mark them, unopened, "return to sender" and repost them for free. My regular junk mail is now down to almost zero.
Marie, thanks for jumping in. I don't doubt that some people love shopping via catalog. When I lived in Texas, a friend of mine there received more than a dozen per week, every week, and she paged through every one.
I just think it would be more responsible of companies that create catalogs to only send them to customers who expressly grant permission to do so.
With Steve's point, some companies lack the ability to differentiate among existing customers. On the other hand, there's still an enormous level of customer list purchasing happening among retailers. One solution to stop junk mail is to legislate against the selling of customer lists, but oh the heart attacks that would spawn...
Geoff, I think the UK's solution is brilliant. Are the catalog originators then held accountable for the return postage?
There is a commercial opportunity buried in this discussion. It would be an organization that managed the list of people who do not want catelogs. The companies sending the catelogs out are hoping for a decent response rate, and would save money by cleaning the lists they use against the opt out list. So the opt out list maintainer should be able to charge for their list.
The list itself could be a website. In addition a phone number that records the info and sends it of to the server at the website would be helpful as well. The service wouldn't be that hard to build and maintain.
No, I'm not going to do it. Take this idea, please.
Anyone think about where all that paper comes from and what a waste to chop down forests for a 2% response rate! Every time I get a catalog I call their customer service and ask to be taken off their list. Go directly to the source. Think about helping save forests by doing the same. Check out this Time article on Victoria's Secret catalogs and their impact on endangered forests.
http://www.time.com/time/insidebiz/article/0,9171,1139834,00.html
I have the same problem and I was thinking about the same commercial oppourtunity... and I WOULD be willing to take it one. I would combine it with a detailed list of what customer do and do not want information on. I don't mind getting catalogs for things that I want. I hate getting them otherwise. I'll have to look into this more. Anybody want to pitch in and help? patrickforum at allaboutfocus dot com.
Hi
I put together a "Simplify Your Life Checklist" for US residents every year.
One of the resources I featured this year is
Terminate Unwanted Catalogs:
Contact Abacus at optout@abacus-direct.com or write Abacus, PO Box 1478, Broomfield CO 80093. Supply your address and the full names of everyone in your household or company. Abacus is the single largest catalog clearinghouse for US mail recipients.
Try it -- You'll like it!
If you want more resources -- the complete list is up on my website.
Best wishes on organizing the 2006 of your dreams!
One solution to stop junk mail is to legislate against the selling of customer lists, but oh the heart attacks that would spawn.
