A quick summary

Our customer, a leading country clothing and outdoor equipment supplier, uses their 250 page mail order catalogue as an important way to generate new business. They came to Webmart wanting a reliable, quality print partner who was keen on price.

Webmart was able to offer this but since the catalogue was delivered through the mail at a time when Royal Mail price increases were due, we were also able to find ways they could cut costs on paper and mailing to offset these increases.

The Challenge

Our customer is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of country clothing and outdoor equipment. Their catalogue is a key sales tool for their business, comprising around 250 A4 full colour pages mailed free to customers across the UK.

They initially came to Webmart looking for a printing partner who could offer competitive pricing and who could meet their delivery and quality requirements. As with all our catalogue projects, we have rigorous project management and quality control procedures to ensure we meet our customer’s standards. But with the mailing price-hike to be brought in by Royal Mail, we decided we could help offset increased costs by examining both paper and postage options to maintain quality while making savings to balance overall spend.

How we achieved it (and more!)

To help find the best solution, our consultant took an in-depth look at the specification of the print and paper. They carefully matched up the correct printing process to the product to find the most efficient, optimised printing solution. This meant the catalogue was printed in the most cost-effective way possible.

We also looked at paper options, evaluating usage, durability, finish and weight and found a paper that offered an acceptable combination of value and quality while ensuring the finished catalogue would meet weight restrictions imposed by mailing.

Finally, we also optimised the catalogue mailing to take advantage of Royal Mail discounting. We also identified alternative routes to the door step where considerable savings could be made. This step was probably the most crucial for taking cost out of the campaign.

Overall, we significantly reduced the impact incurred by the pricing increases with little-to-no discernible impact on the overall look and feel of the catalogue.