.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Online sales were predicted to be the ruin of traditional print catalog sales by 2005. So logic would tell you that catalogs are a thing of the past by now, right?

Wrong. In fact, a recent study predicts catalog titles will increase about 3.5 percent by 2010. We know more people are shopping online, so what’s up?

Web shoppers are shopping with the catalogs too. They just use them differently than off-line shoppers. The Web isn’t replacing catalogs; it’s being enhanced by them. Online shoppers are using catalogs as desk references rather than the point of purchase, according to findings recently released by Forrester Research.

Twenty-nine percent of Web buyers say they go online to get more information or to purchase items they first saw in catalogs. Eighty-two percent of Web buyers report that they still look through most catalogs they receive. They just prefer to actually buy the products online.

Catalog publishers are actually increasing their circulation as they add new customers from their Web sales. They don’t care where the actual transaction takes place. In fact, it’s cheaper for them in most cases if their customers hop online to buy.

What does this mean to you? Online communication and sales don’t necessarily replace other methods. Take a fresh look at your sales sheets, brochures, print ads, catalogs and other marketing tools and see how they might enhance your consumers’ Web experience or vice versa.

Consumers have gotten vocal about wanting options and customization. It’s not about giving them less. It’s about giving them choices and using one tool to support and build on the others.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2007 Drew McLellan