DMA Releases 'Catalog Design: Methods and Strategies to Increase Sales'

May 20, 2008 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) yesterday released “Catalog Design: Methods and Strategies to Increase Sales,” a first of its kind report that presents catalogers with benchmarks in catalog design elements. The new report was released at the 25^th ACCM (Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants), which is being held in Orlando through Thursday.

A catalog design team faces an enormous number of choices when it comes to executing the design — decisions must be made on elements such as incentives, photography, hot spots, number of items per page, among others. This new DMA research sheds light and gives some direction to catalogers about which choices will maximize their sales.

“There are many different parts and elements to a catalog, all of which have endless possibilities,” said Michelle Tiletnick, DMA research manager and the report’s author. “This report sets out to make these decisions easier by analyzing the effectiveness of different creative elements, and allowing catalogers to strategically target their creative efforts against not only their competitors, but the industry leaders as well.”

The new study supplies a wealth of statistics and findings to better marketers’ catalog layout, creative, and response. It also provides information on what the competition is doing, with what frequency, and most importantly, the effectiveness of their tactics.

Some key findings from DMA’s “Catalog Design: Methods and Strategies to Increase Sales” report include:

· Seven out of every 10 respondents said that their primary channel is a traditional paper catalog. Website catalogs constituted the second most popular channel, with 24.3 percent of respondents.

· Almost 75 percent of respondents track previous catalog sales to help determine the amount of space a product is given in the next catalog.

· Standard-sized catalogs (8¾” x 10⅞”) are not only rated as the most heavily used size, but are also rated the most effective among six choices, with a mean rating of 3.60 out of a possible 5.

· The majority of respondents find using a grid layout to be most effective.

· The most used front cover tactic is also the most effective, according to respondents’ mean ratings: “conveying a brand image” was ranked as the most effective in increasing sales. “Showcasing highest margin products,” the least used tactic was also rated the least effective.

· “Conveying a brand image” was also rated as the most used tactic for the back cover, with a mean rating of 3.53 out of a possible 5, followed closely by “showcasing best-selling products” (3.50). “Showcasing highest-margin products” on the back cover is the least rated tactic (2.74).

The cost of “Catalog Design: Methods and Strategies to Increase Sales” is $195 for DMA members and $345 for non-members. The report is also available for downloading at DMA’s Bookstore. To purchase, please click here.

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