Mattel’s new game
Spurred by declining retail toy sales and the growth of e-commerce, 4.78 billion toy manufacturer Mattel has aggressively entered the direct marketing
Sweetening the deal
Offering incentives such as discounts, free shipping, and gifts with purchases has been part of catalog marketing for decades. And now that the Internet
If you build it, they will buy
Ever-increasing competition is inspiring more catalogers to develop and manufacture their own products. Among participants in Catalog Age’s 1998 Benchmark
Privacy clampdown
According to the Data Protection Directive of the European Union (EU), which went into effect Oct. 25, nations belonging to the EU are forbidden to transmit
Apparel in peril
Casual apparel catalogers Lands’ End and L.L. Bean reported near-flat sales over the past year. Multititle clothing mailer Brylane suffered a 4.7% drop
See you in court!
Sharper Image Corp. is keeping its corporate counsel busy. In late November, the San Francisco-based high-tech gadgets cataloger/retailer sued several
The sun sets on the CML Group
Just four years ago, the CML Group’s empire included cataloger/retailers The Nature Co., Smith & Hawken, and NordicTrack. But on Dec. 17, the Acton, MA-based
Ready or not . . .
Sure, you’ve got your hands full ensuring that your internal computer systems are Y2K-compliant, but what about the systems of your suppliers? Can your
Uniting to promote e-commerce
The day after Thanksgiving traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season. This past holiday season, online catalogers and industry organizations
View from The Hill
Newt may be gone, but as far as catalogers are concerned, little else has changed on Capitol Hill. “There wasn’t much turnover in terms of faces in Congress,”