Holiday shopping is months away for most consumers, but consumer catalogers have already been busy shopping for holiday 2001. As of press time, though, few clear-cut trends had emerged. And few of the mailers contacted by Catalog Age had determined — or would reveal — their product winners for the season.
Last year, for instance, the Razor Scooter and a plethora of knockoffs took marketers by storm. The Singing Fish plaque had replaced the Singing Bird clock as the ubiquitous must-have item. And since the dot-com industry had yet to truly go bust, catalogers were still counting on conspicuous consumption from consumers flush with cash.
But this year, betting that consumers will be more conservative with their spending, catalogers and product manufacturers are being more conservative, says Jacksonville, FL-based catalog merchandising consultant Leila Griffith. The result has been a disappointing selection of merchandise at trade shows and in the major markets, she says. Worse yet, “there’s been so much saturation in certain areas over the years that it’s been harder to find new products.”
And given that it’s costly and time-consuming to develop, manufacture, and test your own product, few catalogers are willing to take the risk — especially in this uncertain economic climate, Griffith says. As a result, most catalogers are relying on their “faith” products, she says, “or merchandise that has worked well for them in the past.”
But while many catalogers are no doubt relying on new colors and variations on existing products, some marketers are betting on specifc items, trends, or themes. Whimsy, for instance, promises to be big, says Michael Stopka, owner of Arlington Heights, IL-based home and garden furnishings catalog Design Toscano. Among the items he’ll be featuring in his holiday books are a garden statue of an elephant whose trunk acts as a sprinkler, and another of a dog furiously digging, with his hind quarters sticking up in the air.
Related to the whimsical theme, Stopka adds, is merchandise depicting fairies and — a longtime Design Toscano specialty — gargoyles. Two potential blockbuster films that will be opening during the holiday season, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Fellowship of the Ring (the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) — both of which feature wizards, fairies, elves, and the like — may further fuel a fancy for otherworldly gifts. And in fact, a raft of product licensed from those two films will be released in time for the holiday season.
Things magical and mystical are influencing the color preferences for holiday 2001, says Carol D’Arconte, president of New York-based color trends consulting firm The Color Portfolio. Purple, which she expects to be hot, “is the color of fantasy and mystics,” she notes.
Another color that promises to be big, D’Arconte says, is tomato red: “Red is the color of optimism, the color of a new renaissance.” And in a sluggish economy, consumers are eager to look ahead to a new beginning.
Champagne tastes, beer budgets
Given that many catalogers and retailers have been caught off-guard by how quickly consumer spending has dropped during the first quarter of the year, merchants are preparing for more restrained holiday spending as well. To that end, they’re being sure to include less extravagant offerings in their product mix.
At the same time, though, they’re not giving up on luxury goods entirely. For instance, Robin Sheldon, president of St. Louis-based bedding and apparel cataloger Soft Surroundings, expects its cashmere socks (for adults and for babies) to be big sellers this upcoming holiday. Ditto its designer doggie beds, priced at $80-$125.
Hand in hand with little luxuries are creature comforts. Sheldon, for instance, is counting on aromatherapy products to remain popular this year. Her catalog will be selling heatable wraps made of scented buckwheat, including a canine version that doubles as a collar.
For her part, Andrea Lawson Gray, owner of San Francisco-based consultancy Aesthetics Marketing, expects “anything related to day spas” to sell well. “It’s a cross between spirituality and feeling good,” she says, “because the boomers are aging and want to feel good.”
The economic slowdown has led Jim Zimmerman, owner of Los Angeles-based ceramics cataloger/retailer Cottura, to shift his merchandise focus from dinnerware toward home accessories and decorative items such as wall plates, urns, and planters. His reasoning: Rather than purchasing new homes or making major renovations, people will rejuvenate their decor.
Me, me, me
Another trend that Zimmerman is keeping in mind as he buys for holiday is an increase in self-gifting — the “one gift for them and one for me” phenomenon.
Cottura’s order-takers make a point of asking customers whether their purchases are gifts, Zimmerman says, and “we’re seeing an increase in the percentage of people buying for themselves.” Soft Surroundings’ Sheldon supports this: “People are just figuring out that it’s all right to buy for themselves.” In fact, that’s another reason she’s making sure to include plenty of comfort items in her holiday merchandise mix.
Zimmerman encourages the trend by placing Cottura’s costlier items, such as the large Tuscan urns, on the inside front cover and the back cover, and in the first third of his catalog. “People buy more-significant items for themselves” and send less-expensive things as gifts, he says.
Last-minute shopping
As mentioned earlier, catalogers that don’t develop their own products may have a tough time finding winners at the trade shows. Even going overseas is not necessarily the answer for unique items anymore, says consultant Griffith. “A few years ago, I found several items at a major merchandise show in Germany. But a few months after I came back, I went to a gift show in New York, and at least half of the vendors I had samples from were showing their stuff!”
The good news is that it might pay to do your show shopping later in the season, says consultant Joan Litle, president of Chelmsford, MA-based Catalog Connection. “I find that going to the trade shows later in the season, particularly in May or June, offers the chance to get product that wasn’t picked over by everyone else in the same predicament.” By the time the later trade shows roll around, she says, “I’ll have done the bulk of my merchandising, but I’ll still need that one special product. So sometimes the later trade shows are great for picking up last-minute filler products. I often find a lot of winners this way.”
What’s Hot and What’s Not for 2001
Most catalogers and merchandising consultants say there are no clear-cut trends for this year, and the lack of new products and themes has been discouraging. That said, there are always some items, colors, and motifs that are proclaimed in or out for any given season, and this one is no exception. Below, our picks.
| WHAT’S HOT: | WHAT’S NOT: |
|---|---|
| Reds and purples | Greens and yellows |
| Retro toys | High-tech toys |
| Embossed leather | Distressed leather |
| Celtic | Cuban |
| Aprons | Martini shakers |
| Vegetable motifs | Fruit motifs |
| Mudrooms | Dining rooms |
| Peacocks | Roosters |
| The 1980s | The 1970s |
| Tea time | Coffee breaks |
| Bees | Butterflies |