“I loved catalogs and magazines when I was growing up. My favorite was the Martha Stewart one, the way it was shot and presented was so compelling and beautiful and different to anything I had seen at the time. Growing up in Atlanta, I also received the Ballard Designs catalog and absolutely revered it. I’d dog-ear the pages, imagining what I could buy if I had the money. It was always an aspirational brand for me. So when I started my career as a graphic designer, I targeted Ballard Designs as a place I wanted to work. Now, 25 years later, I’ve moved from creative to merchandising and marketing—and four years ago, I became president.
Karen Mooney is the President of Ballard Designs, a multi-channel furniture and home decor retailer which started off over 40 years ago as a catalog-only business. Today, the catalog remains a key part of their marketing puzzle, she says.
I’d dog-ear the Ballard Designs catalog pages, imagining what I could buy if I had the money.
I regularly do company refreshers or inductions for new employees, introducing them to the business. One of the things that always surprises some of the younger employees is that Ballard Designs started as a catalog business – and why. When Helen Ballard started it in 1983, it was the only way to get in front of people without having a store and this idea sort of blows everyone's mind.
Browsing products online is just not the same as opening up a catalog, holding it in your hand and getting that visceral and emotional connection.
There has been a material shift in what catalogs are used for. They used to be strictly sales tools, but for us now they are a marketing tool and a point of inspiration for our customers. Back then, the Ballard catalog used to contain every detail – every single color and dimension – but now all that information can live online. The internet is a very transactional place and it can be hard to find inspiration unless you really know where to look. If you’re on our site or another home decor retailer site, you’re mostly browsing products. It’s just not the same as opening up a catalog, holding it in your hand and getting that visceral and emotional connection.
There’s this myth that younger generations don’t like print, but we haven’t found that to be true. It’s not about age; it’s about preference.
There’s this myth that younger generations don’t like print, but we haven’t found that to be true. Over the years, around the same percent of 35-year-olds like getting catalogs now as they did back then. That hasn’t really shifted. It’s not about age; it’s about preference. Some people enjoy engaging with print, and others don’t.
What’s key is how these elements complement each other. Catalogs, retail stores, and digital all work together to create a well-rounded business.
We’ve never believed that the catalog is dead, but with paper, printing and postage costs going up, we had to get strategic about those who valued it in their mailbox and those who did not. We needed to focus on how to make the most of every mailing we did. We’ve streamlined the catalog and invested those savings into our digital offering. But what’s key is how these elements complement each other. It’s not one or the other — catalogs, retail stores, and digital all work together to create a well-rounded business.
The tactile experience of flipping through the catalog becomes part of our customers’ brand interaction.
Cost has always been a consideration in producing our catalog. We have done tests using cheaper paper quality but that’s a slippery slope — it may not decrease your quality of demand right now but over time, it can degrade the image of your brand. Last year, we started to test mailing our best customers with half receiving the paper we currently use and the other half receiving a catalog with premium, perfect-bound stock and a nicer cover. We found that the nicer catalog performed better. That doesn’t mean we are going to send it out to every customer, but there are those that we know appreciate it. Even if they don’t buy today, our catalog stays with them. The tactile experience of flipping through the catalog becomes part of their brand interaction. This reflects how we think about the catalog holistically. It’s not just a tool for driving sales; it’s about crafting the full brand experience. If it helps increase the average order value or customer lifetime value, then it’s worth the investment.
Last year, we started to test mailing our best customers with half receiving the paper we currently use and the other half receiving a catalog with premium, perfect-bound stock and a nicer cover. The nicer catalog performed better.
Everyone refers to our catalog as a magazine, which is telling. And we’ve found that some of our older customers have held onto catalogs for months, sometimes years. That is because they use it for decorating or inspiration and not as something disposable. Each medium offers something unique. It is a fundamentally different experience to hold something in your hands as opposed to seeing an email that gets quickly deleted. People allow themselves time to linger over print, which we don't get in digital, where we are almost impatient with ourselves.
People allow themselves time to linger over print, which we don't get in digital, where we are almost impatient with ourselves.
Internally, we’ve had to shift our mindset: the catalog isn’t just a sales tool anymore, it’s a key part of the marketing puzzle. We think hard about how to use it to create emotional connection, how it supports retail, how store associates can use it to help customers visualize their space. The biggest challenge is balancing our marketing spend across channels. We don’t want to create a self-fulfilling prophecy by pulling back on something just because it’s expensive. The catalog is still an important part of our customers’ lives. It really matters to them. We’re committed to keeping it funded because we believe in the value it delivers. So yes, we’ve always been—and still are—big believers in catalogs.”
The catalog is an important part of our customers’ lives. It really matters to them.
As told to: Daniela Walker
Photos: Ben Rollins
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