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Unit 5: Buying for Off-site Retail Operations

Notes
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Caselet Spiegel Catalog

piegel, Inc., the nation’s largest direct marketer and specialty retailer was founded
in 1865. It sells apparel, household furnishings, and other merchandise through
Ssemiannual catalogs and various specialty catalogs. Spiegel reaches more than thirty
million households in the United States. While the business is primarily a catalog operation,
it does have a few outlet shops that dispose of overstocked or end-of-season merchandise.
Buyers and merchandisers alike are provided substantial information about customer
purchases from computer-generated reports. Such data include customer demographics,
behavioral information,merchandise preferences, and price points within the various
markets. Through constant analysis, the buyers are better able to serve their customer’s
needs. In addition, primary research is a regular company undertaking. Studies are
conducted that produce firsthand information about consumer preferences.

Typical of the consumer research done was a questionnaire that was inserted in a company
catalog. Many of the responses confirmed the organization’s own merchandising thoughts,
whereas some turned up requests that hadn’t been considered before the survey. About 72
percent responded affirmatively to the company’s customer advisory panel. The success
of the catalog is certainly due to the company’s efforts to consider the consumer in the
decision-making process; its mix of merchandise that includes both nationally advertised
brands, many of whose items are specifically manufactured for Spiegel, and private-label
items; and buyer’s careful attention to merchandise acquisition and development. If
problems arise, customer service representatives quickly address them.
Spiegel recognizes that while it doesn’t have some of the advantages of companies that
operate from stores, such as interaction with department managers and shoppers to
determine merchandise needs firsthand, its regular involvement with research provides
it with the information needed to run a successful business.

Source: http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/5808/5947551/MCH150_Ch05.pdf

5.2 Home Shopping Networks

It was during the early 1980s that television viewers were first introduced to a new type of
programming. Rather than entertainment, informational programs, and news broadcasts, the
audience was shown a variety of goods available for their purchase. On several cable stations,
merchandise that featured a “bargain” orientation was displayed. Promoted at what were said
to be lower than regular retail prices, with both the regular and “special” price displayed,
viewers were invited to make their selections and call in their requests.
Today, as we are at the beginning of the new millennium, more and more business is being
accomplished in this manner. On such programming as the Home Shopping Network and QVC,
the two major entries using this format, hundreds of thousands of transactions are recorded
every day.
The format used by these “programs” involves someone showing the specific item or featuring
it on a live model. In addition to merchandise that has been purchased by the company’s buyers,
well-known personalities come on to sell their own product lines. Celebrities such as Ivana
Trump, Connie Stevens, and Joan Rivers make regular appearances on the home buying screens.

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