Catalog Choice wants to help merchants use best practices in permission marketing and resource conservation. This post describes how one merchant honored their customers’ requests to opt-out of paper catalogs.
The following is a case study that demonstrates the benefit of developing a paperless relationship with consumers. The full report is available at Marketingsherpa.com. The following is published by permission of Brian Mehler of Chiasso.
Marketers with a catalog initiative have contended with the paper-to-digital revolution for some time. But when your demographic shows a preference for green marketing and email conversions are down, you need a new action plan.
See how one marketer redesigned their email program to transition it into a substitute for their print catalogs. The test worked: they reduced their print run and lifted email conversions 19%.
CHALLENGE
When Brian Mehler, Ecommerce Manager, Chiasso, came onboard seven months ago, he was charged with the hefty task of improving the open, clickthrough and conversion rates for their email program.
That was only the beginning. Through their own sales data and from customer surveys, Mehler’s bosses knew their upscale, educated, mostly-female demographic was increasingly migrating away from paper catalogs in favor of greener channels.
While they didn’t think customers would abandon catalogs immediately, it was Mehler’s job to get the brand ahead of the curve. Significant email design changes needed to be made to increase conversions and to incorporate the most-current catalog into the look and feel of the emails — from product images to the subject line.
Mehler and his team wondered if they could get their increasingly green audience to envision email and the Web site as a replacement for the catalog.
THE PLAN
“Because of paper waste, our customers were going to be asking for catalogs less and less,” Mehler says. “If people in the future opt to only receive emails, then that would be our only way to introduce them to the new season. We had to see if email could provide the same type of rich experience that our catalog has for years.”
At least, Mehler didn’t have to build the email list. They already had an email address for practically every customer and prospect who got a catalog in the mail. Here are the four steps they took to test the greener initiative:
-> Step #1. Offer green options
Mehler wanted their green enthusiasts to be able to take action after clicking through the emails. Therefore, they added a “catalog” link above the fold on the homepage. From there, viewers were taken to a page where they could either shop from their virtual catalog application or manage their paper subscription by choosing either:
o “Get the Chiasso catalog”
o “Stop getting the Chiasso catalog”
Those who clicked on the second link could fill out a form to be taken off the list. They were also able to specify if they simply wanted to withhold permission for Chiasso to rent their names.
The copy for the permission page read:
“…we know, your mailbox is always full, your mail person’s back is ready to give out, and you’re really concerned about deforestation and the situation we are facing with landfills. And believe it or not, we would like to help. The last thing we want to do is send people unwanted mail.”
-> Step #2. Redesign email program
Because Mehler knew customers would be opting out of catalogs, they had to increase email conversions fast. More than anything, he wanted the email design to better reflect the catalog’s glossy, high-end aesthetic feel.
To achieve this, they:
- Shifted to a more photo-laden and colorful three-dimensional layout.
- Featured the same products in the emails as what was on the catalog cover — a zoom sofa-sleeper and an in-motion table. The items were also showcased on the homepage.
- Showed the products multiple times in the message to give a different perspective on how they might look in customers’ homes.
- Used less copy around photos.
“We didn’t want to bore them with a long phrase. We wanted to excite them with things they could do with their homes by showcasing designs and abstract shapes.”
-> Step #3. Announcement message
Next, it was time to launch the new email design. They sent the first email three days before the fall catalog was scheduled to arrive in home.
The subject line:
“Inspiration is in the mail … fall’s first look.”
-> Step #4. Remail to non-opens
48 hours later, they segmented the non-opens from the customer list for a remail. This new email used the same design and product offers, but they also included a limited-time discount to create urgency and offer an incentive to open.
They sent this email three days after the catalog in-home date to ensure that their West Coast addresses had, indeed, received the paper book in the mail.
The subject line read:
“Inspiration is in the mail … save 10% on your next order.”
RESULTS
“In the unsolicited commentary we’ve received, people have been thrilled that we incorporated the green option,” Mehler says. “It’s all part of the process as we move forward with our audience.”
Of course, if their catalog readers want to migrate away from paper, Mehler and his team would prefer to see a gradual transition. Thankfully, that was the reaction: catalog unsubscribes that were tracked back to the email campaign were less than 1%, but he expects that number to increase as their savvier email design gains traction
with customers.
There’s no question that the new email design worked: conversion rates for the test increased 19%. Mehler credits the remail tactic as an important part of that success. The limited-time discount really motivated shoppers.
“We even saw a bigger-than-normal spike in our call center after the remail went out. And there have been other great results overall. For instance, we saw gross dollars for the email increase by 20% and a net gain of plus-30% compared to usual.”
If you can demonstrate to catalogers that this strategy drove sales increases and profit increases, you will greatly help your cause!
Wow! You gave up Peruvian Connection? That’s one of the few I can’t let go. I love everything in that catalog and since they are fair trade (they say they are) and provide good, safe jobs for people in developing countries, I like to buy from them. If I get a few extra dollars, I choose one item from the catalog …. their stuff is pricey, but it is gorgeous, well-made, and fair trade.
I’d be very, very interested to know what catalogs others are keeping…at this point, we are keeping only a half dozen or so.
We are also keeping only a half dozen or so.
A good example of one of our “keepers” is Pomegranate, a California publishing house.
Pomegranate sends us exactly one catalog per year, in October, at exactly the right time for ordering my day planner and also sometimes Christmas cards. Since my husband and I enjoy selecting the cards together, it’s nice to have a portable copy of the catalog to take with us to the coffeeshop or whatever. We could drag our computer over there, too, and take advantage of the wireless connection to browse Pomegranate.com, but I have to be honest that their website design is a bit clunky. It’s easier to see what we want in the paper catalog layout, since Pomegranate.com doesn’t have proper galleries with thumbnail images in a grid-type arrangement.
If they ever fix that, I might opt-out of their catalog, as well. For now, I’ve forgiven ‘em, since they don’t harass us year-round and they do carry recycled paper products.
[...] learn more about CatalogChoice.org, including their latest blog entry which features an article written by Brian Mehler of Chiasso, a retailer who’s committed to [...]
I tried to opt out of Sierra Woman today and I was refused. I called their customer service number and talked to a very nice woman who said they had just received a memo today about Catalog Choice. Apparently they are part of some group that has not decided to recognize Catalog Choice yet. The woman explained that my being refused did not mean they wouldn’t let me stop getting a catalog, just that they hadn’t decided to work with Catalog Choice yet. I suggested to her that they consider it so we can help save the trees, especially when I am one of many people who will just throw their catalog right in the trash without even glancing at it.
[...] learn more about CatalogChoice.org, including their latest blog entry which features an article written by Brian Mehler of Chiasso, a retailer who’s committed to [...]
It’s been about …six months since I’ve even ordered from a catalog (Herrshener’s) so for me that’s a clear indicator that I am patronizing our local retailers and saving $$ in shipping costs. When I look at the whole picture, shopping out of catalogs a couple of years ago was great because they helped us furnish and decorate our new home. Now that we’re comfy with what we’ve done, most catalogs aren’t really needed anymore. So I’m glad that many many merchants are still honoring my requests and looking at consumers and the environment differently. I can now put all of those mailing labels of unwanted catalogs that I saved for a year and a half in the shredder!
When I speak to an uncooperative merchant, I tell them how catalogchoice has over 1.1 million folks who will hear about their practices because I will blog about them. So, good to my word, I want you all to know that another merchant, Home Trends (QCI Direct) has claimed that catalogchoice charges them and that is why they will not cooperate…and in my book, that, and the fact that they hadn’t sent a catalog in a year and now started again, is enough to boycott them and I hope you will all join me!
I am delighted that this is only the second catalog in total I have recieved this month!!! I went from receiving almost 300 catalogs during the Christmas 2007 season to almost none now!
Sandra, I’m with you! Home Trends is not the only culprits restarting their catalog mailings after about a year, JC Penney, Facets and Creative Irish Gifts have followed suit. But they’ve changed the name to hubby’s. During the period of Aug-Dec07, we were getting about 100 per week for two addresses. Our mailbox is now fairly empty most days. My son claims that we no longer get catalogs at our old house which is nice.