Believe it or not, the demand for printed catalogues is still significantly high for catalogue and home shopping retailers.



Many observers have long held the view that the large traditional catalogue and home shopping retailers of yesteryear would suffer a long and painful decline in the face of new and fast moving online retailers who specialise in small niche clothing brands so favoured by today’s youth. In fact the reverse is true.

It’s true that the more established catalogue and home shopping retailers don’t have their huge credit hungry mailing lists that they once enjoyed, but write them off or ignore them at your peril.

The popularity of Internet shopping has seen some very switched on retailers view the internet as a brilliant opportunity to build on their strengths and to address their weaknesses. Because of their huge buying power, the big boys in the catalogue and home shopping sector have been able to identify particularly popular clothing brands and exploit them very quickly through their Internet channels as effectively as the small and trendy boutiques.

To address the criticism of limited selection, limited sizes, limited choice and limited clothing brands in their printed catalogues, the traditional home shopping retailers have ramped up their online presence in impressive style. Because of their print heritage, catalogue retailers are still able to promote their ‘Request a Catalogue’ feature on their websites which is an option that most of their visitors still look for.

Instead of the tired old view of home shopping, the traditional catalogue companies who’ve kept their finger on the pulse of modern shopping trends, now find themselves in the enviable position of being viewed as authority sites when it comes to predicting fashions and offering niche clothing brands to the public. Allied to their massive buying power, their new found authority means that stylish and fashionable clothing brands are now more accessible that ever.

Despite the miserable element who seem to enjoy the idea that difficult times are (always) just over the horizon, multi channel retailers who sell their goods in print, in shops and on the internet can look forward to some impressive growth online. By 2012 it has been predicted that online retail sales in the UK alone, will top 60 billion pound.

If conventional catalogue and home shopping brands are prepared to meet the new kids on the block head to head, and if they continue to offer top quality, top styles, top clothing brands and excellent customer service, then the future of shopping online has a very rosy outlook for a long time to come.

Happy Shopping