Catalog and Publication Outlook -- Proceed with Caution

Retail forecasts will significantly impact the catalog segment in 2009. According to Coyle, even online shopping is showing softened sales. As 2008 draws to a close, catalog printers are already being impacted, as many retailers report strained earnings.

“Due to economic conditions and even the lingering impact of the postal rate increases of May 2007, there are increasing efforts to reduce overall costs within the catalog industry,” Coyle notes. “These are being manifested as a select reduction in pages, select reductions in campaigns and the resulting catalog ‘drops,’ and even some reductions in the total number of base catalogs mailed. In some cases, catalogers have chosen to replace some of their catalog drops with direct mail pieces to engage their customers.”