Beyond the basics of squinch

What do you think of when you hear “square-inch analysis? You probably know it's a useful tool for merchandising and pagination; a tool that guides decisions on space allocation, page count and numbers of products in a given category.

But if that's all you're using squinch for, you're missing out on a wealth of valuable insights that can help you in decision-making across the board.

Squinch is an analysis that looks at the profitability of a catalog at the product or category level, helping you to anticipate customer behaviors. It determines the effectiveness of your offline space, measuring the advertising dollars allowed per space (square inches) against dollars generated (preferably net sales). It's a dynamic merchandising tool, guiding far-reaching decisions such as which categories to grow, what products to develop, and what price point to expand.

A detailed squinch is a glimpse into your customers' minds: They are telling you what they want to buy from you. But while many catalogers claim to use a square-inch analysis, few really take advantage of this important piece of research to guide key decisions.

A squinch is not just for merchandisers, nor is it used only to look at what worked post mortem. It's a potent tool to help you make decisions about marketing, segmentation, e-mail, online presentation and navigation, pay-per-click, pagination and cover selection.

MARKETING

Marketers often build a contact strategy without considering the information available through the squinch analysis. This is a huge mistake. With a little examination, a squinch can lead you to tactics that will make your marketing efforts much more effective.

Product assortment

Do you have one or several standout products, or a category killer that outsells other products every time? Consider highlighting your flagship product in a solo package or postcard mailing. It will keep you top-of-mind with customers and serve as a reminder of the quality they have come to expect from your product.

Think about how the season will affect the mailing. When you need to save money during an unprofitable time of year, a squinch can help you identify your best-selling products to promote in a smaller, more cost-effective catalog sent to your best customers.

You can also take a look at what prospects are buying compared to repeat customers. If the merchandise is quite different from what customers are buying, it may be worth creating a prospect catalog or a single-product solo package offering.

Create space ads for quality lead generation

Once you've identified the products and themes that most appeal to prospects, test this information with a compelling offer in a space ad. Many multichannel companies use this technique with proven results — sometimes making a profit on prospecting.

Of course, it must be the right product with the right offer, and internal data should guide your decision.

Improve e-mails

Since the investment required to send e-mails is so low, the tendency is to use this channel to get rid of excess product. But right now is a great time to get more discerning with e-mail marketing.

Use this low-cost medium to get personal, looking at your squinch by customer, product, price, offer — even color — to get the right product in front of the right person at the right price point. Using customer-generated data to communicate relevant offers can increase e-mail conversion results.

Specialize offers by segment

Make your marketing efforts more robust by drilling down to customer-, product- and offer- level detail. Identify several key customer profiles and examine their sales data for recurring themes and product lines.

Determine what offers they've responded to in the past, and use that information to build pertinent offers for the audience that is most likely to be receptive. For instance, some marketers have successfully created profitable solo packages, targeted to specific customers, and segmented by buying behavior with specific product offerings.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS

You may have already considered ways to take your carefully planned pagination and apply it to your Website organization and layout. But that's just the beginning.

Look at these key areas to make sure you're taking full advantage of the data available to you.

Paginate to build a better converting piece

Just as you would paginate your print catalog, use the squinch to allocate space on the Web. If a product is more than pulling its “profitability” weight, consider giving it more space, positioning it as a “hero” on the Web page or even letting it show up multiple times.

Then find opportunities to increase the average order by placing a meaningful product next to a best seller. For instance, if a dress is a best seller, group it with “known” matching accessories.

Another number to examine is the “average price sold,” a metric that shows what prices your customers are looking for within a given category. Products with popular price points should be both plentiful and highly noticeable on the Web page — even showing up in hot spots.

Correlate online conversion data with squinch analysis

The next step is to focus your online presentation by correlating your offline squinch analysis with your online conversion data. Explore what items are purchased with more frequency online; it could vary considerably from the offline channels. Use that information to create the strongest online presentation possible.

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