catalogs versus(?) online shopping
by Brandon Schauer‘Tis the season for buying online. We now have in addition to “black friday” the term “cyber monday” (and is it too late to change the later to something a little less early nineties?). You’d think that online would have killed off catalogs, but BusinessWeek reported last week that the web only changed the role of catalogs and made them more numerous. So much for saving the rainforest through e-commerce.
First, I think this is a great step forward in multichannel services. As noted in the article, “the catalog is the best method to convince customers to go online.” However, to pull off cross-channel collaboration like this organizations must be able to plan and coordinate across groups. It may sound easy, but organizations can quickly get bogged down in issues such as, “Who should get credited with a sale that began in the catalog and ended online?” Once an organization overcomes these issues, each channel can play to it’s strengths.
Second, I do wonder why online retail has ended up with certain weaknesses. I understand that the web’s strengths are in breadth of inventory, personalization, and fulfillment, but why does it supposedly suck so bad at conveying the brand image? Business Week states,
“The new breed of catalog is a glossy, magazine-like statement meant to convey to consumers the look and feel of a brand. That’s a task the typical home PC just isn’t up to, no matter how good the resolution of the monitor.”
I’ll admit that catalogs certainly have a strength here, as they fill that moment where you’ve just arrived home and you’re sitting on the couch resting and browsing through your mail. You’re perfectly willing to be entertained at that moment with some brand imagery and lifestyle photos. But on the web when you’ve arrived at a site with a potential purchase in mind, a brand story feels more like an obstacle between the customer and your next sale.
Still, sites like Threadless manage to convey deep messages about their brand along with the shopping experience. Seeing everyday customer’s enjoying their t-shirts might not be quite as aspiring as following along with a Mount Everest climber wearing the same gear you can purchase, but it’s much more accessible and more meaningfully integrated into the purchase experience.
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on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 10:09 am and is filed under Experience Strategy.
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