America is known for its love of shopping. This includes brick-and-mortar stores, and eCommerce. As of 2022, 21% of global retail sales are online. No matter if you are in retail, manufacturing, or supplies, creating an online catalog has numerous benefits to your industry. It’s a key factor to honing your marketing efforts, driving sales, and increasing revenue.
Online catalogs are a common, and effective, way to reach a wider audience, engage users, and grow your business. Marketing and sales efforts are on a continuous transition to include more online formats. eCommerce platforms continue their relevance with modern shoppers. Many brands and industries opt to design and use a digital edition of their catalog to appeal to a broad range of consumers. In some scenarios, businesses opt to move all of their marketing collateral online.
Digital catalog technology creates an eCommerce selling machine. Capture your customers’ attention and increase engagement by utilizing digital versions of your catalog.
Benefits of a Digital Product Catalog
There are many benefits of a digital product catalog, including:
- Cost-Saving – less expensive to produce than printed content;
- Quicker Turnaround – quicker to upload and publish;
- Quick Edits – edit and correct errors and typos in real time;
- Track It All – use analytics to discover how users interact with your content;
- Wider Distribution – share your catalog across multiple channels and social media platforms;
- Reach a Bigger Audience – reach existing shoppers and generate new leads;
- Save Time – automate the linking process in your digital catalog.
Now we’ll look at the key points in more detail:
Save Time and Money
Printing paper catalogs incurs serious costs. Digital catalogs are quicker to produce and distribute. Creating an online catalog means you can get your content into the hands of your consumers faster.
Instead of spending your time laboring over linking SKUs and products in your eCommerce catalog, automate the linking process and get more time back in your day. With the ability to make edits in real time, always keep the most current information in front of your shoppers.
Wider Distribution
Print catalogs often require physical address lists to ship the catalog, which comes with the extra cost of shipping. Digital catalogs are shared via a link to social media platforms, by email, or by embedding the link on your website. Reach specific consumers, and generate new leads.
Track the effectiveness of your content with analytics. Track the amount of views your catalog receives and which specific pages receive the most views and clicks. Improve your marketing efforts, increase sales, and reach.
Guide to Creating the Best Online Catalog
There are several steps to making a catalog that stands out, no matter if it is a print or digital catalog. Some main factors to keep in mind are:
- Front cover: Create a well-designed front cover that contains the title of your catalog and gives readers an idea of what to expect within the catalog;
- Table of Contents: Highlight different sections of content or any important information that consumers should focus on;
- Primary pages: Showcase your products or services by utilizing key visuals, SKUs and pricing information, and how your shoppers can complete their purchases;
- CTAs: Include CTAs (call to actions) that help with decision making and give meaning to your catalog;
- Back Cover: Include your contact information.
Now that you know how to make catalog structures that work for your audience, it’s time to start designing the pages within.
Step 1: Define Your Target Audience
Knowing who you are trying to reach will help you determine the tone, style, and content of your catalog. Understand your audience’s needs, interests, and preferences to make your catalog more effective.
Step 2: Layout Your Branding and Design
When you create a digital catalog, it’s important to make your catalog design cohesive so it matches the look and feel of your site. This makes your catalog easy to identify with your business and creates a memorable experience for your customers. Pay attention to details such as the catalog layout, font choice, design colors, and your logo.
Step 3: Use High-quality Images and Videos
Present your products in a visual manner that appeals to consumers. Use professional photos and videos to showcase your products from different angles, and use high-resolution images for zooming in on details.
The images should work to your goal of motivating shoppers to purchase. Use high end photography, with excellent lighting, and crisp image quality to inspire your customers.
Step 4: Create Descriptive Product Descriptions
Your product descriptions should be clear, concise, and informative. Use bullet points to highlight the most important features, and provide dimensions, materials, and any other relevant information.
Step 5: Organize your Products in an Effective Layout
When creating an online catalog, categorize your products in a logical way, so customers can find what they are looking for in an efficient manner. Use clear headings and subheadings to help guide users through the catalog.
Use a simple and intuitive design that is easy to navigate, and provide a search bar to help users find specific products. Organize your table of contents, or categorize your catalog into sections, so shoppers can locate what they need in an efficient manner.
Step 6: Include an Element of Storytelling
Every brand has a story. Even though your primary concern is selling your product or service, there is a story behind the scenes. If you want to know how to make catalog content stand out, include an element of storytelling. Customers love to know your brand story. Share industry insights, highlight an employee, or show how a product is made. Draw your readers in and give them a way to be a part of your story. This will also strengthen brand loyalty and trust in your business.
Step 7: Add Interactive Features
Consider adding interactive features to engage your users and offer an immersive experience. Interactive features such as 360-degree product views, videos, and product comparison tools can enhance the user experience and increase engagement.
To the above point, interactive features can also help you to tell your brand’s story. Pull back the curtain and give customers a look at the production process. Or, do a video interview with an employee or brand representative.
Step 8: Include Customer Reviews
Positive reviews can encourage potential customers to make a purchase. Allow customers to leave reviews for each product and display them in a prominent place in your catalog.
Step 9: Optimize your Catalog for Mobile Use
A significant portion of online shoppers use their mobile devices to browse and purchase products. Ensure your catalog is optimized for mobile use.
Step 10: Make Regular Updates your Catalog
Keep your catalog up to date with new products, sales, and promotions to keep customers engaged and interested in your business.
Include CTAs to make it easy for customers to move through the catalog, and to the sales funnel. List all items in a clear structure, incorporate shopping icons so users can add items to their cart, and customize shopping windows so browsing customers get all the information they need to make a decision.
Must-Have Details to Include While Making a Catalog
When designing your catalog, there are several essential details that you should include to ensure that your catalog is informative, attractive, and easy to use. Some of these details include:
- Product information: This is the most important detail to include in your catalog. It includes the name of the product, a description of the product, its features, and benefits.
- Product images: It is important to include high-quality images of your products, showing them from different angles, so that customers can see what they are buying.
- Product codes and pricing: Every product in your catalog should have a unique code or SKU number to help with tracking inventory and ordering. You should also include the price of each product.
- Branding: Your catalog should be branded with your company name, logo, and colors to make it easily recognizable.
- Table of contents: If you have a large catalog with many products, you should include a table of contents to help customers navigate through it.
- Product categories: If you have many products, you should categorize them into different groups to make it easier for customers to find what they are looking for.
- Order and payment details: Make sure to include information on how to order and pay for products, including payment methods, shipping options, and delivery times.
- Contact information: Include your company’s contact information, such as phone number, email address, and website, so that customers can reach you with any questions or concerns.
Product reviews: You can include customer reviews or testimonials to help customers make informed decisions about their purchases.
By including these details, you can create a comprehensive catalog that provides customers with all the information they need to make informed buying decisions.
Create a Digital Catalog
What is the best program to use to create a digital catalog? The best program is one that allows you to have ownership over your content, make edits as needed, and keep track of catalog metrics. DCatalog provides an intuitive platform that takes your content to the next level. Our platform offers a seamless integration between your digital catalog and your eCommerce platform.
With next level enhancements, useful tools, and cutting-edge features, our program delivers incredible experiences for your shoppers that increase sales and drive results. Now that you have a thorough understanding of how to make a digital catalog and what one is, don’t hesitate to begin creating your online catalog. Contact one of our Publishing Executives today to start putting together your amazing digital catalog.
FAQ
What is a digital catalog?
A digital catalog is an electronic version of a catalog that can be viewed on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. It contains information about products, including descriptions, prices, and images, and can be used to promote and sell products online.
Is there an app to create a catalog?
Yes, there are several apps available to create a catalog, such as Canva, and DCatalog. These apps offer various features to design and customize catalogs, including templates, images, and product information management tools.
What is the best program to create a catalog?
To make a catalog with pictures, you can use a variety of software tools, as well as online catalog creation platforms like DCatalog or Canva.
How to make a catalog with pictures?
To make a catalog with pictures, you can use a variety of online catalog creation platforms like DCatalog or Canva. You will need to have high-quality images of your products and be able to organize them effectively within the catalog layout.