Increase Online Sales with a Mail Order Catalog

The traditional method of promoting items for a mail order company was to send out a basic catalog. This catalog provided a picture, description and price for each items that was offered for sale. The catalog was sent to a list of subscribers and to addresses obtained from various types of mailing lists. Today many companies have done away with the printed version of the mail order catalog and have instead focused solely on an online catalog. While this method can be successful, it is still a good idea to publish a print version of your catalog to both promote your website and to generate additional sales.

Tip #1 - Coordinate Your Catalog with Your Online Store

The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that your online store and your catalog work together. You can do this by ensuring that both the print and online versions of your catalog utilize the same coding for products. This will help your customers to locate items that they found in your print catalog online and vise versa. Next make sure that your customers can search for an item using the product number. Again this will make it easier for your customers to find items online that they first saw in your print catalog. Finally, support orders in multiple formats including online, phone, fax, email and snail mail.

Tip #2 - Use the Print Catalog to Promote Seasonal Items

A good way to drum up business during the various sales seasons of the year is to send out a seasonal print catalog. The seasonal print catalog will feature the special items that you want to sell more of, such as Christmas cards, Thanksgiving placemats or wedding candles. Make sure your print catalog is sent out several months before the holiday for which it was printed for. This way your customers have enough time to order and receive their items before the holiday.

Tip #3 - Create a Mailing List Online

To develop a mailing list for your print catalog you will need to create a form that can be inserted into your website for collecting visitor information. This form will be a "request a catalog" form. It will collect the customer's name, mailing address, email address and phone number. You can also allow the visitor to select which catalogs they are most interested in.

Tip #4 - Apply for Bulk Mailing Permit

To save money on your print catalog you will want to apply for a bulk mailing permit from the United States Postal Office. This permit will reduce the amount of money that you spend on postage when sending out your catalogs.