Imagine not being able to see the new collection of your favorite designers online? Imagine a life without online shopping? Not possible, right? Life seems so dull; shopping becomes more like an exercise and what is the point of surfing the Internet? All the shopaholics would understand the pain I feel while writing these sentences. Coming back to the reality, we do have all the facilities and the access to the digital catalog.
For several decades, all kinds of grocery stores, department stores, boutiques and numerous other retailers attempted to boost sales and attract customers to their stores through a print catalog. Today, when you consider the advancements in technology, barely anyone reads physical newspapers let alone catalogs and it goes from your mailbox to your trash can. In this digital day and age people prefer the ease of surfing a catalog online without having to physically go through a print catalog. Below I have listed a few ways that show why digital catalogs are changing the face of retail industry.
Available on every platform
We have all used print catalogs and newsletters as marketing strategies for years but with the addition of digital catalog you can definitely bolster your sales even more. Digital catalogs are available on every platform and can be accessed from your phone, tablet or desktop computers. They also incorporate multimedia such as sound, video or clickable links that make the catalogs more interactive compared to a print catalog. The links can include anything from different webpages to youtube videos that better showcase your product. The millennials prefer swiping on their tech gadgets than flipping pages of a digital catalog which is why its becoming popular.
Consumers browse online before going into store
The retail industry is shifting to an online trend, shoppers prefer to search the retailer’s website before they step into the store to see the kind of products they have and if it matches their tastes or not. Even if they don’t prefer to buy stuff online they would still browse through their website to save time in-store. Sometimes they can also just show what they liked online to a sales assistant in-store and they can quickly find it for them which saves them even more time. Retailers can use this as an opportunity to make their latest products available on digital catalogs to better connect with consumers and increase sales. Studies done by Google and Sterling Brands also suggest that digital and in-store shopping is far more interconnected in today’s world since the new generation is very tach savvy.
Engage with customers the way they want
Digital catalogs give retailers a chance to market their product the way consumers want and build an engaging experience for them. The millennials are very savvy who want a better digital shopping experience since they focus a lot on saving time, protecting the environment and the ease of browsing through their phones or computers no matter where they are. Retailers need to provide them with a shopping experience the way they want to connect with them better. Retail marketers are learning to optimize engagement through digital catalogs, online search and social networks, among others, and developing the skills required for that. Old school methods of marketing such as print catalogs are still very important but it’s much more convenient to email or upload a digital catalog online instead of mailing one to potential customers every week.
Many online publishers including DCatalog have begun publishing in multiple digital formats, or dual digital formats, that may include both HTML versions that look like traditional web pages and Flash versions that appear more like traditional magazines with digital flipping of pages. With digital catalogs retailers can reach customers all over the world and be Eco-friendly at the same time. Take a look at DCatalog’s website to see digital catalog done right.
By: Divya Kaur/ Content Writer