A Catalogue of Stuff

When it comes to acquiring stuff one of the most popular methods is catalogue shopping. Not very 21st Century at all I hear you grumble. People poring over mail order catalogues? How thoroughly last millennium.

In fact the idea of mail order goes way back as far as, well, the idea of mail. The internet hasn't really brought anything fundamentally new to the principle of buying stuff from a catalogue; merely supplanted posting an order form or calling a telephone number with clicking an electronic order form using a web browser.

The significant improvements that online shopping catalogues bring are ease of use (they don't weigh a ton with tiny text fonts and microscopic photographs), searchability (can't find a new ironing board because it's been filed under L - for lightweight ironing board, obviously), and accuracy.

Many online catalogues are tied directly to the backroom stock control systems and can inform customers exactly how many items are available and even where they can be physically collected from (nearest warehouse or retail outlet) if required. Argos based in the UK is especially good at this sort of thing and the company is a classic example of how a traditional catalogue business was able to exploit the new possibilities that the internet opened up.

The metamorphosis of the Argos Catalogue from the notoriously lamentable experience it once was to the speedy pain-free website it now is, offering customers a choice between delivery or collect, provides a text book illustration of how to blend new stuff (the internet) with old stuff (printed catalogues) to the benefit of all concerned.

Customers gain an improved selection and purchasing experience that is also more convenient and saves a great deal of time; catalogues companies gain access to a much larger customer base who are also more likely to bring repeat business thanks to the improved process.

One other crucial point relating to shopping catalogues that is genuinely 21st Century is the relatively recent rise of comparison sites. These compare items across multiple catalogues assessing suppliers on criteria such as price, stock levels and service, so now it is trivially easy for anyone to find out which online catalogue best suits their needs for any given purchase. As you might expect, price doesn't necessarily win out - customers are willing to pay a premium for a company that has a reputation to protect and delivers on its promises.

So then, catalogue shopping ain't new but neither it appears is it going out of fashion any time soon. In fact when you consider big-name mainstays of internet retailing such as Amazon.com, you start to realize how much really is based on the online catalogue as a business model.