Page 553 -

|552 PART 3 Designing a Customer Value-Driven Strategy and Mix

For example, apps such as Catalog Spree

put a mall full of classic catalogs from retail-

ers such as Macy’s, Anthropologie, L.L. Bean,

Hammacher Schlemmer, Coldwater Creek,

or West Elm only a swipe of the finger away

on a smartphone or tablet. And days be-

fore the latest Lands’ End catalog arrives in

the mail, customers can access it digitally at

landsend.com, at social media outlets such as

Facebook, or via the Lands’ End mobile app.

With Lands’ End Mobile, says the company,
“You’re carrying every item we carry.”43

Digital catalogs eliminate printing and

mailing costs. And whereas space is limited

in a print catalog, online catalogs can offer

an almost unlimited amount of merchan-

dise. They also offer a broader assortment of

presentation formats, including search and

video. Finally, online catalogs allow real-

time merchandising; products and features

can be added or removed as needed, and

prices can be adjusted instantly to match de-

Digital catalogs: Apps such as Catalog Spree put a mall full of classic catalogs mand. Customers can carry digital catalogs
from retailers such as Macy’s, Best Buy, Anthropologie, L.L. Bean, Hammacher
Schlemmer, or Coldwater Creek only a swipe of the finger away on a smartphone anywhere they go, even when shopping at
or tablet. physical stores.

Catalog Spree, the #1 catalog shopping app for the iPad and iPhone. www.catalogspree.com However, despite the advantages of digi-
tal catalogs, as your overstuffed mailbox may
suggest, printed catalogs are still thriving.

U.S. direct marketers mailed out some 12.5 billion catalogs last year—more than 100 per
American household.44 Why aren’t companies ditching their old-fashioned paper catalogs

in this new digital era? For one thing, paper catalogs create emotional connections with

customers. Somehow, turning actual catalog pages engages consumers in a way that digital

images simply can’t.

In addition, printed catalogs are one of the best ways to drive online and mobile sales,

making them more important than ever in the digital era. According to one study, about

58 percent of online shoppers browse physical catalogs for ideas, and 31 percent have a

retailer’s catalog with them when they make a purchase online. Catalog users look at more

than double the number of online pages per visit to the company’s site than the average
visitor and spend twice the amount of time there.45

Telemarketing Telemarketing
Using the telephone to sell directly to
customers. Telemarketing involves using the telephone to sell directly to consumers and business cus-
tomers. U.S. marketers spent an estimated $42 billion on telemarketing last year, almost
as much as on direct mail.46 We’re all familiar with telephone marketing directed toward
consumers, but business-to-business (B-to-B) marketers also use telemarketing extensively.
Marketers use outbound telephone marketing to sell directly to consumers and businesses.

They also use inbound toll-free numbers to receive orders from television and print ads,
direct mail, or catalogs.

Properly designed and targeted telemarketing provides many benefits, including
purchasing convenience and increased product and service information. However, the
explosion in unsolicited outbound telephone marketing over the years annoyed many
consumers, who objected to the almost daily “junk phone calls.” In 2003, U.S. lawmakers
responded with the National Do Not Call Registry, which is managed by the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC). The legislation bans most telemarketing calls to registered phone num-
bers (although people can still receive calls from nonprofit groups, politicians, and compa-
nies with which they have recently done business). Consumers responded enthusiastically.
To date, more than 221 million home and mobile phone numbers have been registered at
www.donotcall.gov or by calling 888-382-1222.47 Businesses that break do-not-call laws can
be fined up to $16,000 per violation. As a result, the program has been very successful.