The Twin Sisters of Marketing: Catalog and Magalog
By Allen Taylor

Catalogs are great marketing tools, especially for retail shops. If you run a retail business of any kind you should consider marketing your products with a print and an online catalog.

The U.S. Postal Service conducted a study and found that one of the biggest factors to generating online customer orders is a print catalog. According to the study, consumers who receive a print catalog in the mail enter into 15% more online transactions than consumers who don't and also spend 16% more money.

The Direct Marketing Association says the typical catalog shopper is a married woman in her early 50's living in the suburbs, employed earning about $53,000 and her husband is also employed.

Fifty-seven percent of catalog shoppers purchase apparel, 51% purchase gifts, 48% purchase books, music and videos, 31% purchase home furnishings, and 27% purchase home electronics. Other high percentage categories of catalog purchasers include sporting goods, travel services, sports and entertainment tickets, flowers, gardening supplies, pet supplies and food.

A simple conclusion can be deducted from these figures: If you own a retail store of any kind, you could increase your sales by targeting your customers with a print catalog. But not just any customer.