March Catalogue Log

Over the past few years the Catalogue Log has tracked how, to boost sales, marketers are experimenting with promotions. While price cuts are by far the most common offer, free delivery is creeping up the popularity charts.

I don’t know about you, but there are certain email subject lines that almost guarantee I am going to open the email. The first is Your Order Has Been Despatched, which I click on to check delivery times and status. The second is Free Delivery. No Minimum Spend. Just last week a skincare brand elicited a buy response from me by sending a well-timed email. I was already in the market to buy a cleanser to replenish my depleting stocks and although my preference was for that brand, the delivery charge put me off. I was seriously considering buying a similar item from another online retailer that offers unconditional free shipping on all items instead. That free delivery email won saved the sale.

What is becoming evident from the Catalogue Log data we’ve collected is that the popularity of free delivery on email is filtering into print. We thought February was a record-breaking month, with 27.2 percent of catalogue covers promoting free shipping. March topped that with 28.9 percent, or 35 catalogues. As the chart below shows, the month of March has experienced a steady increase in the number of catalogues touting free p&p, while the use of other promotions has remained relatively constant. 

Overall we received 121 catalogues in March 2013, a staggering 23 percent drop on last year’s haul of 157. A quick glance at the list shows we didn’t receive a mailing from Lakeland or Misco last month, but we did get a Lego catalogue and Tandy Leather buyer’s guide. Other new names last month included Cornwall-based Poppy Treffry, fashion etailer Atterley Road and the Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Still the most popular promotion, 41.3 percent of catalogues promoted a sale or a discount on their front cover. Interestingly, a similar percentage (39.7 percent) featured no offer at all. One offer that stood out was from the Folio Society. It promoted the Times Atlas, a publication the Folio Society says is worth £150, for just £9.95. Is it just me, or does that have the wrong effect on the concept of “perceived value”?

There was somewhat of a resurgence in the number of catalogues offering a free gift with purchase in March. One in eight (12.4 percent) catalogue covers promised a freebie, compared to less than one in 10 (8 percent) in February. The gifts included a free silk tie from Charles Tyrwhitt, free pearl earrings from a Daily Mail reader offers catalogue, mini digital kitchen scales from Fashion World and a “Spring is in the Air” tote bag from The Owl Barn, among others.

I promised last month that I would share my favourite covers of the season. Sadly, no Easter-related covers really grabbed me, but the Spring catalogue from Hotter scores top marks. It features the strapline Shoes to fall in love with immediately drawing the reader in. The cover evokes happy days by the lake, and the addition of a dot whack offering 20% off your first order plus free delivery is a welcome added bonus.

Selling “comfy” shoes, Hotter doesn’t fall into the trap of forgetting about fashion. The models are young and photographed having fun—on swings and hammocks with young children, lazing in classic cars, even exercising. The colour scheme is pastel, reminiscent of spring blossoms and flowering gardens. The copy’s spot on too: The smart heels in our Signature Collection are more than a little out of the ordinary. That’s not just because they come in beautiful brights and soft neutral shades (though they do), it’s because of the Comfort Concept features in every pair! Flexible, super soft, with luxurious pillow soft underfoot cushioning that you’ll feel in every step – bliss! I’m not the target demographic, but this catalogue has me tempted.--MT

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

The August Catalogue Log

The dog days of summer made their presence felt in the Catalogue Log inbox. In August we logged in just 71 catalogues, less than half the number (149) tallied in July. How much of the decline in volume was due to general seasonality and how much to the Royal Mail strikes scattered across the month is impossible to say.

While the overall volume of catalogues was low, the percentage offering sales and discounts was the highest it’s been so far in 2009: 43.7 percent. That’s not surprising, given that many retailers, particularly apparel merchants, make every effort to shift excess inventory by the end of summer to make room for autumn and Christmas merchandise. Cataloguers as diverse as Furniture@work.co.uk, footwear merchant Hotter Comfort Concept, retail fittings supplier Morplan, womenswear title Simply Be, and Wickedelic Lingerie posted special sale catalogues in August.

In fact, the percentage of catalogues that promised no special offers fell sharply. In June, 46.5 percent of the books logged in carried no free P&P offers, gift-with-purchase deals, prize draws, discounts, or other special offers. In July the percentage slipped slightly, to 43.6 percent. But in August fewer than one in three of the catalogues received—31 percent, to be precise—were free of sales or other promotions. For the most part, those were autumn/winter/Christmas editions, such as the Arthritis Research Campaign’s Christmas issue, the autumn editions of childrenwear merchant Frugi, gardening title Sarah Raven’s Kitchen & Garden, and womenswear brand Spirit of the Andes , upscale knitwear mailer House of Bruar’s 2009-2010 catalogue, and the autumn/winter editions from fair-trade fashion brand People Tree and apparel brand Weird Fish.

Peeks, which sells party and fundraising supplies, did include a special offer in its Christmas catalogue: a discount on early-bird orders. It didn’t call out the promotion on its cover, though, opting to feature it on the opening spread instead—a bit of a missed opportunity.--SC