“It ain’t inventory that drives profit: it is the right inventory that drives profit. You can buy all day long today, and if you aren’t buying the right stock, the right inventory, the right fashion, it ain’t getting you the sales except at second and third markdowns and on promotions.”

In the heart of the recession crunch, blogs were full of damning words suggesting that brand relationships would wither and price would trump all.  Battling for sales now and in the future, we know this is untrue.  Always was. Paid and natural search, down to the keyword level, shows that brand connection drives the consumer’s engagement level, leading to increased downstream demand.  But, that connection should be explicit and evocative.  It should be perfectly clear and intimately tied to what stirs a customer’s emotions.

Catalogs and emails prod interest and are the perfect place to initiate brand authenticity and create that emotional attachment.  Email has become spam for many, not because of the volume of inappropriately targeted mail or the way off-target products being promoted, but because retailers have used them exclusively for selling.  They’re the gift that keeps on giving.

Or, are they?  Is too much promotion impacting that relationship? With social media, a content/promotion ratio of 4 or 5 to 1 looks to be the right balance to engage customers and drive up their retention without overstepping the boundaries of promotion.  For women’s fashion apparel buyers, especially those spending over $100, we’re seeing elongated click-to-buy cycles as further evidence of what we’re beginning to see in our research: time, and the lack of it, is emerging as, potentially, one of the most important elements in a purchase decision.

The chart below shows the data.  Following a four-week campaign, an additional 24.6% of orders were placed by the 90-day mark versus 20.4% in 2008, which was already higher than in 2007.

Click to Enlarge

Through this lens, then, shopping online needs to be radically easier.  Site navigation has to be more obvious and clear. Next-day delivery should be a convenience for the shopper, not a profit center for the retailer. Return policies should become benefits.   Sizing should become an experience.

Last week’s retail sales data shows that buyers are not only buying necessities and making sure the price is right, but they’re seeking value beyond the purchase.  We can also read it in their Facebook and Twitter comments.

Making buying a brand experience is where we’ll find profits.  The deal is simply expected.

Chris Paradysz is CEO of PM Digital.

Click to Enlarge

It’s no secret that more retailers are using social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter to further engage consumers with their brands. Emails and websites remain the primary agents for promoting social media initiatives, but marketers with print catalogs can also leverage their offline assets to get customers to log-on and sign-up. Here are recent examples of six marketers, ranging from FetchDog to Bliss, that are using catalogs to seek out new friends, fans and followers.

Canine-centric retailer FetchDog (founded by Glenn Close) includes a few ways to connect online. Along with a standard email sign-up, the catalog encourages recipients to “join us online and dig a little deeper” via Facebook and Twitter.  The newsfeeds for both feature tips and links to dogs in the news, such as the Humane Society’s “Coping with the death of your pet” and updates on the first dog, Bo. Fans on Facebook can upload their own pooch photos, and the site is also seeking catalog dog models.  [Links: FetchDog on Facebook and FetchDog on Twitter]

Click to Enlarge

Fossil uses an online photo contest to publicize both its 25th Anniversary celebration and Facebook page.  The “Vintage Revival” contest was detailed in a recent catalog, and contestants were asked to “upload a photo from your past and tell us how it inspires you today.” Fans vote for favorite photos online, with vintage-inspired Fossil prize packages awarded to the top three vote-getters. Throughout the print catalog, a “posted” note tells recipients to “Join us on Facebook.”  [Links:  Fossil on Facebook]

Click to Enlarge

Teen clothing and accessories retailer Tilly’s plays up social networking in its print creative with “Update UR Status” copy.  The catalog uses the phrase repeatedly to highlight merchandise and brands (e.g. “Update UR Status…Men’s Tees” or “Update UR Jansport”), then brings it on home with a back-cover message to “Check us out on Twitter & Facebook.” [Links:  Tilly’s on Facebook and Tilly’s on Twitter]

Click to Enlarge

Children’s apparel marketer C.W.D. Kids promotes both its Facebook page and Kidbits blog in a recent fall catalog.  Both content outlets are used to alert customers to new merchandise and sales, with the Facebook page having the added benefit of promoting a monthly contest where buyers submit pictures of their own children modeling C.W.D. clothing. [Links: C.W.D. Kids on Facebook and Kidsbits blog]

Click to Enlarge

Dance Distributors, which specializes in dancewear for children and teens, promotes a Get Social initiative with a recent catalog.  The benefits of connecting with the company on Facebook and Twitter are laid out succinctly in a single sentence: “Connect with dancers, enter fun contests and be the first to know about exclusive promotions & new products!” [Links: Dance Distributors on Facebook and Dance Distributors on Twitter]

And finally, Bliss recently began touting a new Facebook application in its September catalogs.  Entitled “My Beauty Routine,” the new app promises to let fans “show off your beauty regiment, product wish list and virtual bathroom cabinet.”  I wasn’t able to get the app installed as of this writing, but it sounds like an exciting initiative for Bliss.  [Links: Bliss on Facebook]

Glenn Lalich is VP of Research & Analysis at PM Digital.

Efforts made to increase website conversion rate. Since even small increases can make a huge impact on revenue, our retail clients are, at present, unveiling new technology investments in time for the holiday season and hoping the needle moves in the right direction.

Determining the optimum contact strategy. Multi-channel marketers are trying to understand the appropriate online and offline media mix in order to eliminate overlap of marketing dollars.

Kicking affiliates and competitors off trademark terms. Hardly a new Top 10 concern, but those squatting on brand keywords drive up cpcs due to the increased competition on the search engines and divert a portion of the traffic away from the trademark.  Fortunately, there are good tools available to monitor this, and there is always some leverage with affiliates, but last holiday we noticed marketers who typically shy away from this practice (as opposed to affiliates) running full speed on competitor trademark terms.

How promotional to be for the holiday. Nobody wants to give away more than they have to this 4th quarter in order to protect margin, but everyone’s waiting and watching the landscape to see how low they’ll need to go.

Best practices for social marketing. There is gaining acceptance in developing Social Marketing strategies, with Facebook and Twitter being the most popular places to dive in.  Most of the marketers we’re talking to are looking for insight on best practices.

How to boost AOV. In the past year, many retailers saw AOV decline.  Similar to the impact of higher conversion rates, larger purchases will positively impact bottom line revenues so there’s a push to devise tactics to increase it.

How to boost search impressions. For multi-channel marketers who have made cuts to catalog circ this year, site traffic is depressed.  Many are looking at year-over-year impression share and realizing the impact of their marketing tactics on site traffic.

How to get more sales/leads from top search keywords. With lower conversion rates, tighter margins due to lower AOV, cuts to circ and all the rest that impacted retailers in the past year, efforts are underway to eek out more from what is working.

Reacting to sudden changes in site traffic. Google, in particular, has been really tinkering this summer making a lot of changes, and we all now know the importance of Bing in our future, so keeping tight on algorithmic changes at the search engines is a factor in sales forecasting.

Suzy Sandberg is President of PM Digital.