November 1, 2009
Cover Story
Signs of Life
No one is expecting a blockbuster holiday, and that's good we're not likely to get one. But the sentiment for many by the end of the summer was that we...
Editor's Note
The power of interruption
CATALOGERS HAVE HAD GOOD REASONS lately to rein in their prospecting and cut back on mailings. You have to hold the line on costs when sales aren't coming...
News
DMA Board: Change is Coming
After a contentious battle for proxy votes just before its annual board meeting, the DMA has vowed to change. ...
Gardens Alive! Buys Thompson & Morgan
Gardens Alive! continues to grow like a weed: The horticultural mailer announced Sept. 25 it has acquired the U.S. operations of Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen. ...
USPS: No Rate Hike in 2010
Catalogers planning their 2010 budgets received a big boost of good news Thursday as Postmaster General John E. Potter declared there would be no increase in prices for “market dominant products” during calendar year 2010....
Hotel Chocolat Opens Boston Store
U.K.-based Hotel Chocolat, an upscale European chocolatier that launched a U.S. Website in October 2007, is set to unveil its first U.S. retail store. Hotel Chocolat’s 1,200 sq. ft. retail store on Boston’s Newbury St. in Boston will open by the end of next week....
Morton's Launches Steaks Catalog
If you have a hankering for Morton's but you don't live near one of the famed steakhouse's locations, fear not: Morton's is going direct....
Live from NEMOA—10 Thoughts for Today’s Catalogers
You can learn a lot about the industry by running a catalog business, according to Terry Jukes, president of software firm Ability Commerce. Jukes should know—he’s run a few merchant companies, including MISCO and G. Neil....
Live From Search Marketing Expo (SMX): How FTC Disclosure Rules Affect Bloggers
Giving bloggers swag or cash to endorse your product? Beginning Dec. 1, the bloggers will need to be up front about the relationship. ...
VWR Unit Buys X-treme Geek
To beef up its Science Education portfolio VWR Education has acquired X-treme Geek. ...
Movers and Shakers
Henry Schein has appointed Lonnie Shoff to the newly created position of president, Henry Schein Global Healthcare Specialties Group. Most recently, Shoff...
Catalog
Some Slight Gains
THE SECOND QUARTER COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE but it still wasn't pretty for most of the publicly traded consumer merchants tracked by Multichannel Merchant....
Creative on a shoestring budget
Your catalog creative budget has been cut, but your revenue expectations have not. Can you manage these opposing directives? Yes, if you look carefully...
Picking a printing partner
Your catalog's print job is key to its success, since how products are reproduced on paper will have a direct effect on their sales. So choosing a reliable...
E-Commerce
A tough look at Tender Heart
WWW.TENDERHEART.COM Tender Heart Treasures specializes in country and Victorian gifts, home decor and garden accents. So how effective is this merchant...
Optimize Your Landing Pages
An effective landing page can rank highly in organic search, and deliver a strong sales-per-click ratio in paid search, and convert shoppers who reach their destination through myriad acquisition sources. Still, visit more than a handful of sites and you’ll see that many site owners still struggle to optimize their landing pages for what they perceive as multiple masters: paid search, organic search and human shoppers. ...
Marketing
Harness the power of employee bloggers
Should a company hire a professional writer for its blog? No, according to Chris Baggott, CEO of Compendium Blogware. In fact, he says, a company's best...
Brand voila! or brand pandemonium?
When you look across your marketing channels, do you smile as you see a version of your brand's very best a brand voila? Or does it look more like brand...
Lists & Data Strategies
Why you should measure incremental customer performance
Testing is at the heart of direct marketing multichannel merchants test e-mail subject lines, catalog cover versions, Website landing pages and search...
Value of Permission-based E-mail Lists Falling
Worldata’s fall 2009 List Price Index shows that permission-based e-mail business-to-consumer lists continue to lead the price decline, showing the largest price decrease of all categories. ...
Operations & Fullfillment
Tips for a More Space-efficient DC
The distribution center plays a huge role in the success of any supply chain, so the design of your DC must support your company's go-to-market strategy....
International shipping options
FedEx in mid September announced its intended rate increase for 2010 for Express Products. What's the significance, other than a head's up on where your...
Backword
Postal: Don’t Get Mad – Get Involved!
Those of us actively involved in the American Catalog Mailers Association have heard loud and clear from numerous government officials that the massive rate hike happened because we, the catalog mailers, were not part of the process. We were not in Washington educating both the U.S. Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission on the nature of our business....
Blogbit
Have you checked out the Big Fat Marketing Blog (www.bigfatmarketingblog.com) yet? Here's a recent post from MCM senior writer (and horse racing enthusiast)...
Brooks Brothers Going Mad
If you're crazy for sharp-dressed Mad Men, you can now buy men's suits inspired by the AMC series about ad execs in the early 1960s. The show's costume...
