'Alternate' Channels Provide Significant Opportunities in the US

Last week the Export Council of Australia teamed up with Access USA to present part 2 of its webinar series entitled “Accessing Virtual Channels in the United States.” We were lucky enough to hear from in-market specialists with combined experience of over 50 years in catalog and mail order. Stephen Farell is a senior buyer with catalog heavyweight Hammacher, Schlemmer, and Dale Talbott of Essex Sales and Marketing sells to about 80 catalog accounts in the States. 

The webinar explored opportunities in the catalog and mail-order consumer market, a potentially lucrative alternate channel typically overlooked by Australian companies. As the United States continues to recover from a major recession, it remains home to the largest consumer market in the world.  The United States catalog and mail-order sector brings in over $US 360 billion dollars annually generating purchases from 50% of Americans. Before the internet, mail-order took an estimated 18% of the US dollar spent and many assumed that the rise of e-commerce would lead to its demise. However, in reality the internet has not reduced but increased sales, reason being that most catalog merchants now have websites in addition to ‘hard-copy’ issues.  

Catalogs continue to play a very important role in the US retail sector for the following reasons: 

1. Convenience

Print catalogs are extremely easily accessible, easy to navigate and a trusted source of product information. 

2. Information Rich

All information is provided in an easy to read ‘hard copy’ format allowing consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Use of QR codes and Augmented Reality now streamline the interface with online content and enhance the sensory experience.

3. Brand Building

Catalogs provide ‘quality time’ with your customer in what is becoming an increasingly time poor society. Strategic use of editorial enhances the customer experience, reinforces brand imagery and strengthens the connection with your product/company thereby increasing brand loyalty.

4. Targeted Distribution

The digital world is also playing a vital role in targeting distribution of catalogs to optimize impact and sales. Online retailing data is used to identify ‘hot’ prospects with specific interest in your product category. QR codes are now being used to help drive the consumers to purchase online via smart phone devices.

5. Sales

A significant number of global brands still regard catalogs as their number 1 sales tool. Effective sales processes and data capture incorporating online, call centre and retail can measure the success of marketing campaigns very quickly and make marketing departments more agile to changing trends. Personalised URLs printed in catalogs can be used to track sales-per-page figures and to optimise the layout of future editions. 

6. Driving E-Commerce

When an order is made online the company will send out the next catalog with other relevant products, acting as a reinforcement of the customer’s purchase. ‘Catalog codes’ placed with descriptions of an item shown in a catalog allow buyers to easily find their product online. Also, when a potential buyer visits the internet it allows the company to show other related products the buyer may be interested in.

Target Catalog Consumers 

The more than 7,000 US mail-order companies target several American consumer segments. Australian exporters can carefully target specific market segments through their choice of catalog.  

Catalogs are perfect for Australian exporters looking to target a niche market. Webinar presenter Stephen Farell’s own company, Hammacher, Schlemmer is considered an upscale catalog with most products priced from $US 50 dollars to over $US 1,000 dollars.  Mr. Farell explained a successful product of around $US 99 dollars would run for a full year selling about 5,000 units per year. One product featured in the catalog that has sustained popularity is the innovative Australian designed Sand Mat. This beach accessory allows sand to fall through surface of the mat. Mr. Farell explains the high end product would not sell in a retail store because a customer would simply see it as an overpriced beach mat. Customers purchasing from the high end catalog Hammacher, Schlemmer, however, identify with the product’s demonstrable value.  

Catalogs are also great for Australian companies looking to export specialized products, for example Swiss Colony, a mail-order company specializing in an extensive line of meat, cheese and other gourmet snacks.  Specific demographics can also be targeted through catalogs like the upscale women’s clothing line Victoria’s Secret.  Australian exporters looking to introduce a product to the US market should consider the catalog as a way to establish a product on a national basis relatively quickly. 

The US catalog and mail-order market is just one of the alternative channels Australian companies should consider when looking to export to the US market. 

For further exporting opportunities, tune in to Part 3 of the Export Council’s webinar series, “Accessing Virtual Channels in the United States” which will explore opportunities in the largest and most sophisticated e-commerce market in the world.  We will have a senior Amazon executive joining us all the way from Amazon headquarters in Seattle. 

Date: Thursday, 28 June 2012
Time:  9.00am (AEST)
Speakers: Jeff Gray, DC Marketing & Pablo Celi, Divisional Merchandise Manager - Amazon.com Inc

If you would like to participate please e-mail Lisa McAuley at lisamcauley@export.org.auwith full contact details including your membership status. Invoices will be issued for non-members upon registration.

-Meilssa Baker, International Project Co-Coordinator, Export Council of Australia