Abacus: Traditional Mail Order Still Rules

| MCM staff

According to the Abacus 2006 Multichannel Trend Report, the majority of direct sales captured in 2005 continued to take place via traditional “mail order” (phone/mail/fax), with 51% of households ordering through traditional channels.

Investing the Right Amount in Prospecting

| Michelle Farabaugh

To profitably grow a business, you need to invest the right amount in prospecting. But what is that right amount? It varies by company based on several factors including sales goals, profitability targets, short- and long-term strategic plans, and how customer lifetime value (LTV) compares with acquisition costs.

Separate but Equal: Warehouse and Labor Management Systems

| Don Cook

Recent advances in warehouse management systems (WMS) and time and attendance (T&A) systems provide many benefits in inventory control, distribution operations, and personnel administration. They also provide an opportunity to obtain files that you can use to comply with certain labor management requirements. But though labor management is a key means of cutting costs and improving service, it is usually given a low priority during implementation of WMS and T&A systems.