Directors of a retailer\u2019s marketing and advertising departments<\/a> have the classic dilemma of too few resources and far too many ways to spend their budgets. As a result, they must multi-purpose every reasonable effort – preferably by tracking results and reaching their goals with greater precision. This is especially true when it comes to catalogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div> As our previous articles have made clear, the intrinsic value of printed catalogs to retail<\/a> has risen, not fallen, in recent years. The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, Retail Dive<\/a>, and others have documented the resurgence in print catalog use<\/a>. This rising value is driven in part by the tactile, engaging nature of print – plus the fact that consumers still spend an average of $850 on catalog purchases annually. But it\u2019s not a zero-sum print vs. digital equation. On the contrary, both print and digital catalogs improve sales, especially if they are consistent with each other – and with the product data they reflect.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> It\u2019s easy to describe a print catalog<\/a> since they\u2019ve been in existence since at least the days of Tiffany\u2019s Blue Book<\/em> in 1845. But describing its digital sibling is difficult, not just because it is relatively recent. First of all, the form<\/em> of a digital catalog varies widely.<\/p>\n Early on, digital catalogs<\/a> were digital facsimiles of their printed counterparts (think PDFs or fixed-format eBooks), with hyperlinks to purchase the items. On larger screen devices such as tablets, these can be a positive user experience, much as many digital magazines have become. But on smartphones, print facsimiles are less than ideal. For example, users typically do not enjoy pinch-zooming to see more details or to access a link.<\/p>\n A more effective solution for devices of all sizes is a fully responsive<\/em> display of the retailer\u2019s products and special offers. Each element dynamically assumes the size and proportions suitable to a device\u2019s screen size and user navigation habits. This responsiveness is, of course, much easier said than done. Effective, responsive web design can be anything but \u201cautomatic\u201d and is complicated by the retailer\u2019s need to maintain brand and content design parity with a catalog\u2019s printed counterpart.<\/p>\n<\/div> What also makes digital catalogs challenging to describe is their function<\/em>. Like their print siblings, they are complex vehicles usually integrated with overall marketing campaigns designed to elevate sales of high-value, high-margin product lines. But, as recently outlined by retail consultancy MicroD<\/a>, digital catalogs can extend customer reach, improve lead generation, and immediately connect users to e-commerce. They are also highly customizable – down to individuals and their shopping preferences. (It should be noted that print catalogs are also highly customizable, thanks to Comosoft\u2019s advances in data-based versioning<\/a> and the widespread use of high-speed digital printing.)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> As it turns out, the problem is not a lack of potential. Both print and digital catalogs can fulfill a retailer\u2019s many needs<\/a> – potentially – <\/em>and often in ways that complement one another. The problem is that it\u2019s tough to manage each channel\u2019s complex data and to do so with two parallel channels without incurring unacceptable labor costs for manual design and production.<\/p>\n<\/div> Catalogs are not just randomly-selected product images, prices, and descriptions. Instead, featured product information is stored in massive Product Information Management (PIM) systems<\/a>, supplemented by SKU-specific (and frequently updated or modified) images and text descriptions stored in equally huge Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems<\/a>. For fun, the data may also be supplemented by separate databases for product pricing, inventory, and regional availability. So much data, so little time (and money).<\/p>\n<\/div> The challenge for retail marketing and advertising directors and their people is to select the right product(s), with all<\/em> their associated data intact and current, and create an executable, trackable plan for well-designed print and<\/em> digital catalog campaigns. This process must be done repeatedly, always maintaining the retailer\u2019s brand image, and<\/em> it must be done without spending the marketing equivalent of a lunar probe mission.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Fortunately, there is a data-centric, design-friendly way to accomplish this and produce compelling digital catalogs<\/a> without detracting from the proven benefits of print. Comosoft\u2019s LAGO system<\/a> is an effective bridge between PIM, DAM, and other data sources and the world of page design. It allows marketing, advertising, and product line managers to prioritize and plan the products to be featured, using whiteboarding and other visualization tools connected to the retailer\u2019s many data sources.<\/p>\n From that decision process, a series of page templates are created for the designer, who is freed to focus on visual impact without being burdened with searching for bits of related SKU product data. (If the underlying data is altered or updated during the process – such as a new product image – the designer\u2019s layout is automatically updated<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat IS<\/i> a Digital Catalog?<\/h3><\/div>
Data, Data Everywhere<\/h3><\/div>
The Best of Both Worlds<\/h3><\/div>