By DAVID SHARP – Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – A sharp rise in postal rates during the summer hasn’t stopped catalog sellers from filling mailboxes this holiday season.
The US Postal Service says more than 300 million catalogs flooded people’s mailboxes last month, and the total number of catalogs is up 12% from last year, officials said.
The boom continues a positive trend for catalogers braving those who predicted their doom in a digital world.
“The industry is not dying. There are many companies out there that are still aggressively mailing catalogs, ”said Paul Miller, vice president and assistant director of the American Catalog Mailers Association.
Some online retailers like Bonobos, Amazon, and Wayfair have started sending catalogs out in the past few years. Some who left, like Sharper Image and J. Peterman, have returned. Heavyweights like Lands’ End, Hammacher Schlemmer and LL Bean have never wavered.
There are several factors in favor of catalog retailers.
People also read …
For starters, digital advertising on ecommerce websites has increased 20 to 40% this year, despite changes in privacy policies – especially Apple’s efforts – have made it harder to target ads and measure their effectiveness, said Andrew Lipsman, retail analyst at eMarketer.
In addition, it is difficult for some to find their way around online shopping – a room that is messed up thanks to algorithms, marketing and advertising, analysts say, which makes it difficult for people to find what they want.
Jonathan Zhang, professor of marketing at Colorado State University, said another important factor is that catalog and store buyers are more loyal to brands than people who just shop online.
His research found that catalogs generate a higher return on investment because these buyers buy more than online buyers.
The clutter on the Internet is causing shoppers to search for specific things, which prevents the “random discoveries” shoppers make while browsing a store or catalog, he said.
New York shopper Helen Kaplow admits that it is easier to flip through catalogs and circle interesting items or flip pages than it is to scroll through websites. One of her favorite catalogs this time of year is from The Vermont Country Store.
“Catalogs look a bit old-fashioned. They are so analog. But I think it may be their only way to visualize, ”said Kaplow, who hasn’t set foot in a store in years.
However, printing and mailing catalogs are still expensive.
The US Postal Service gave the industry a double blow this year with a 3% postage hike in January, followed by an additional, unexpected hike of nearly 9% in August.
But consumer spending stays hot and catalogs are a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. So it makes sense for retailers who can afford to hand out catalogs, Lipsman said.
Catalog numbers fell about 40% between 2006 and 2018, when an estimated 11.5 billion were shipped to homes, but they have stabilized and are showing signs of increasing in volume, according to ACMA’s Miller.
Miller said catalogs aren’t going to go away anytime soon, in part because they hold up to date compared to the fleeting effects of email, online advertising, and other digital communications.
“People are used to clicking and moving on, but the catalog is still on your coffee table. It will keep you going shopping, ”he said.
Follow David Sharp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any way without permission.
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