UK Catalogues.org.uk | ||
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Welcome to a page dedicated to mail order and catalogue companies. We will aim to list all the major companies, with detailed information about the costs, pros and cons of their publications. Long-term we also hope to list the various offers they produce from month to month. So what is a mail-order catalogue (catalog - for US)?, well it's a publication which either contains a selection or a full list of merchandise on sale from a company. Whilst some manufacturers do create catalogues or small sales flyers for their products, the major players buy branded or rebranded products to sell. The most popular catalogue in the UK is Argos, which is owned by the home retail group. Their business model is currently quite unique. They run over 600 high street stores. With most customers using the catalogue as a reference, then visit their local store, and order and collect instore. The fact the full colour publication is free is also a huge additional benefit.
The typical business of a catalogue is exemplified by Freemans. Using a warehouse to stock the goods, most goods are sold on credit, with agents used to market and distribute the illustrated catalogue. Quite a few companies (Betterware) also use their agents to collect the order forms, then distribute and collect payment for the order. Whilst Freemans began with the same model Betterware currently
use, once they started competing with the leading department stores they needed
to use a professional courier service to deliver the larger consumer goods. Some
companies also began to charge when they started to produce full-colour, 1,000-plus
page catalogues. The cost of creating full colour images page after page is an
expensive process. Freemans still charge £2.99. The World Wide Web now represents a great opportunity for these companies, not only can they save money by producing less full colour publications, but they can satisfy the environmental brigade at the same time. The speed by which people can order is also increased, posting or telephoning an order takes longer and is more work and inconvenience. Privacy PolicyThe information contained within this site is general in nature, and may not be applicable to all catalogue companies. We can also not guarantee the accuracy of the information. |
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