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The Soul of the Retailer: A Great Merchant?

Like the drummer in a band, or a wide receiver on a football team, a merchant has a little edge to them and march to a different beat than the other employees in your company. A good merchant with a great eye for product, a full understanding of their customer, and a big picture view of Read More The Soul of the Retailer: A Great Merchant?

Integration of Online and Offline Channels is Foundational for Future Success – Part II

Back in early June, I shared a blog post about print marketing, and I wanted to expand upon those thoughts, adding some ideas about digital channels. Part II of my first blog post is below. —- With the rise of social media and the engaged consumer, email has come under increased attack as a dated Read More Integration of Online and Offline Channels is Foundational for Future Success – Part II

One Company, One Brand, One Message

Juggling the chaotic demands of digital, wholesale, retail and print campaigns all at once can be, at times, a very daunting task. Sale channels individually can have different leaders, budgets, timetables, outcomes and priorities that can make extremely it difficult for a company to project a clear, timely message to their customers. Absence of clear Read More One Company, One Brand, One Message

Integration of Online and Offline Channels is Foundational for Future Success – Part 1

It’s hard to believe that we are halfway through 2016, and I’m still taking time to reflect on last year’s holiday accomplishments, evaluate transactional and browse trends and start thinking about this year’s holiday planning in the next few months. But before that, let’s take a moment to reflect on the last year. Think about Read More Integration of Online and Offline Channels is Foundational for Future Success – Part 1

One Way to Fill the Revenue Gaps

Multichannel marketers have struggled for years with filling the revenue gaps that typically occur in the lull right before catalog mailings arrive in-home. Even in the age of digital proliferation, it’s still common to see the gaps form.  While there are various methods that can (and should) be tested to help alleviate the gap, one Read More One Way to Fill the Revenue Gaps

Using Website Data to Understand Intent

We all use purchasing data to guide our marketing plans. The recency since last purchase, frequency of purchases, and the total amount spent have been the cornerstones for predicting customer performance in direct marketing for over 50 years. We have gotten better at refining RFM using other purchasing signals, such as products or category purchased Read More Using Website Data to Understand Intent

Age of Amazon: The New Reality of Marketing Strategy, Audience Development, and Merchandising

As we head into 2017, it’s more apparent than ever that a paradigm shift is occurring. While catalog and direct mail continues to experience a resurgence, we are entering a new reality where many of the older, standard catalog and direct mail list and circulation practices are increasingly being overshadowed by Amazon and the Amazon Read More Age of Amazon: The New Reality of Marketing Strategy, Audience Development, and Merchandising

How to Kick Your Retail Store Sales into High Gear

Last week I was sad to read that one of the first “brick and mortar” clients I worked with 20 years ago had declared bankruptcy. I was reminded of the initial project that I did for them. They had hugely expanded their catalog program, mailing many millions of catalogs over the year, but with results Read More How to Kick Your Retail Store Sales into High Gear

Simplifying Your Catalog Selections: House File Modeling

Have you ever heard the phrase, “work smarter, not harder?” Do you typically spend hours making your mail selects for each drop, using the traditional RFM approach? One way of reducing the time it takes to make final mail selections is by using a house file scoring system. This system converts the variables you typically Read More Simplifying Your Catalog Selections: House File Modeling