Using the power of reviews for good

About three years ago the world went ratings and reviews mad. It was the number-one website must-have and we couldn’t keep up with news of online retailers installing third-party reviews software on their websites or developing their own ratings systems.

Reviews hit the headlines again recently, with news of people trolling reviews sites like Tripadvisor intentionally leaving unfounded negative comments. But despite being in the news for all the wrong reasons, reviews can still be a force for good.

It’s widely accepted that consumers trust other people’s reviews, and for many online retailers, the content is already there, so why haven’t more direct sellers made use of the feedback in their offline marketing?

Muddy Puddles, a catalogue of outdoor clothing for children, is on what seems to be a very short list of cataloguers using their online products reviews in their direct mail. And I’m scratching my head as to why.

At Muddy Puddles, the company uses its online user-generated content in the form of testimonials: “Cosy and well designed. Perfect for playing in the snow and skiing”, says one customer of the Performance Mitt; “The fleece is so beautifully soft and snuggly, my son wants to wear it all the time”, says another of the Hooded Fleece. To validate the claims, Muddy Puddles publishes a logo of Feefo, the independent reviews system it uses, with its 99 percent service rating.

Industrial equipment catalogue Slingsby also uses Feefo to gather customer feedback online, and featured a spread of reviewed products on its Work It magalogue, while businesswear cataloguer/retailer Charles Tyrwhitt, which I know also uses the same provider, uses testimonials from satisfied customers in its catalogues, but doesn’t necessarily attribute them to the online reviews system.

In my opinion, cataloguers can leverage reviews to be even more practical than that. People read reviews because they are looking for advice on whether the product will meet their needs. To put this in context, I need a new hairbrush, but the one I have been buying at the Body Shop since I was 16 years old, is no longer on sale. The brush in its place is not quite the same: “I thought this was the same as my lovely old one with smooth pins--please bring those back”, pleads one customer on the Body Shop’s website. Another two-star review says the brush didn’t suit her thick curly hair. These two reviews led me to go back and look at a different brush, which had a higher customer rating and lots of praise on its detangling prowess. That’s the one that got the sale.

So how about incorporating advice from online reviews in your catalogues to guide customers to right purchase? For example, apparel cataloguers could use reviews that advise on size: “Sizes quite large, so if you’re in-between sizes, order the smaller one…” Or a for homewares title, a review that can be used to cross-sell an item: “I was devastated when the Classic Bath Towels were discontinued, but the Royale range makes a fabulous alternative.”

Another tactic is a twist on an old favourite. I flicked through a dozen or so catalogues while writing this blog and found lots that spotlighted their best selling products but none that gave the products a rating—how about, next to one of your best-selling lines, adding a relevant five-star review, or even just a five-star graphic to draw the eye?

Perhaps the most important thing to consider is that by carefully selecting your online reviews for use in your offline material, you’re putting user-generated content firmly back under your control.--MT

Seven companies reach Catalogue e-business Readers’ Award shortlist

Seven highly respected direct commerce businesses have reached the shortlist of the inaugural Catalogue e-business Readers’ Award. Having received some 462 votes, it was too close to call between Asos, Boden, Charles Tyrwhitt, Kiddicare, Lakeland, Net-a-Porter, and The White Company. As a result, it will fall to delegates at the CatEx Round Table Day—held on the same day as the ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards on 6th April—to cast their votes so that the outright winner can be named. The outright winner will then be invited to accept the trophy as part of the ECMOD Direct Commerce Awards evening.

In related news, congratulations to Carol Cade of the Book People who, by making her nomination for the readers' award, won our prize draw of two tickets to the Awards evening. Enjoy the night!

For information on booking a seat at the ECMOD Awards visit www.ecmod360.co.uk.

For information on attending the CatEx Round Table Day visit www.catalogueexchange.co.uk.

February Catalogue Log

More than two-thirds of all the catalogues we received and logged during February 2011 featured some sort of special offer on the cover. That makes February the most promotional of the past 12 months. Up until now, the honour belonged to August 2010, when 65.6 percent of the front covers we tracked mentioned a sale, discount, free shipping, or free gift offer.

In February 2011, we noted a rise in each type of promotion tracked. Almost half of the covers featured a sale or discount—49 percent, compared with 44 percent in January. Among those touting a sale were promotional products marketer 4imprint, angling supplies catalogue Fishtec, and shirt maker Charles Tyrwhitt, which used inserts and mailings to promote its latest deals. In fact, we received three Charles Tyrwhitt catalogues in February, one with an offer for Sunday Times readers, one with an offer for Lands’ End customers and a third carrying the rather curious offer code of Elliot.

Free delivery was the second most popular offer, with 22 percent of catalogues promoting free shipping on the cover. That’s up from 16 percent in January, but only marginally ahead of December, and behind September’s crop of catalogues, which saw the highest percentage of catalogues promoting free delivery, 24.3 percent. Some merchants, like Boden, Figleaves, Healthspan, and Hotter Shoes, combined free delivery with a price-related promotion for an even better deal for customers.

Also on the up was the popularity of free gifts. Eighteen percent of the covers we tracked featured a free gift with purchase, including gardening supplies business Wiggly Wigglers, which gave away three bars of Divine chocolate with orders of £30 or more. It’s the highest percentage we’ve seen for several months, up from 16 percent in January and three times more what we logged in December.

Now compare this with February 2010 and you’ll find stark contrasts: Last year we only received 89 catalogues during February, and promotions were down across the gamut of offers we track. What conclusions can be drawn from this? Does increased volume herald a strengthening of the sector? Are mailers confidently investing in upping circulation to lift response? On the other hand, does a more promotional approach indicate that direct sellers are focusing on sales in expense of margin? All thoughts welcome.--MT

December Catalogue Log

Despite the snow, which disrupted mail services across the UK in the run-up to Christmas, we still received more catalogues in December 2010 than we did in December 2009. But before you get excited and herald this as a triumph over the elements, we only received four more catalogues—66 compared with 62.

The figure also represents a considerable drop from the volume of catalogues we logged in November 2010, when we received 167 catalogues. Another significant contrast is that December’s crop of catalogues was much more promotional than the previous month, with 62.1 percent of front covers making a mention of a special offer, compared with less than half of the November covers doing so.

No prizes for guessing what the most popular offer was in December. Once again, sales and discounts featured most prominently, on the cover of 29 out of 66 catalogues. Many cataloguers, it seemed, did not want to wait until January to start their sales: step forward Charles Tyrwhitt, Craghoppers, and JoJo Maman Bebe.

The percentage of catalogues offering free delivery in December was up marginally on November--21.2 percent, compared with 18 percent. The percentage of catalogues promoting a free gift on the cover fell from 8.4 percent to 6.1 percent, or just four catalogues out of 66.

And finally for December’s haul of catalogues, you may wonder what discount apparel retailer M and M Direct, audio/visual cabling supplier Russ Andrews, and plants catalogue Thompson & Morgan have in common. These three catalogues were the only ones we received that made a promotional opportunity of the VAT rise. Thompson & Morgan pledged to hold 2010’s prices, while Russ Andrews promised to keep VAT at 17.5 during the sale period. M and M promised no increase until 12th January. Whether we’ll see more of these promotions in January is debatable--already our tracker has logged some catalogues doing so. Though with two of the examples holding prices for just a couple weeks and leading retailer Next openly admitting it is increasing its prices by approximately 8 percent this year, it won’t be a popular promotion for long.--MT

The Catalogue Log by the numbers

To be in mail order, you’ve got to love data, so here’s a roundup of Catalogue Log stats from 2010 just for you:

• In total Catalogue e-business logged in 1332 catalogues in 2010. That’s 144 fewer than we received in 2009, representing a 10 percent drop.
• Once again September was the month with the greatest volume, when a total of 185 catalogues were tallied. In April we received just 61 catalogues.
• In August, just 34.4 percent of the catalogues we received made no mention of a special offer on the cover. The least promotional month was November, when more than half of covers featured no special offers.
• July saw the highest percentage of catalogues promoting a sale or discount on their covers, 49.5 percent. In contrast, November touted the fewest price-related offers, just 27.5 percent.
• Free delivery was most popular in September, promoted on 24.3 percent of all covers. It was least popular in July, with only 12.1 percent of catalogues offering some sort of free p&p offer.
• We also tracked how many catalogues offered a free gift. The promotion was particularly popular in May, when 1 in 5 of the catalogues we logged in promised a freebie on the front cover. Free gifts were least popular during the festive season—only 6.1 percent of the catalogues we received in December gave away a gift with purchase.