Challenges And Opportunities Of Catalogue Retailing

Today`s retail environment is characterised by new, store and non-store, retailing formats, a wide range of new products, the use of new information and communication technologies and, consequently, the changing customer behaviour. Catalogue retailing is a non-store retail format that has a long history in North America and Europe. Previous research revealed that the primary shopping motives related to catalogue retailing were convenience oriented. Other motives included recreational orientations, merchandise, order services and perceived value. With growing competition from both store and non-store retailing, catalogue retailers face challenges of increasing customer satisfaction, increasing sales volume and maintaining customer loyalty. In order to survive in a dynamic retailing environment, catalogue retailers must adapt their retailing concepts to the changing market conditions. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the evolution of catalogue retailing and the transformation of catalogue etailers into integrated, customer-centric, multichannel retailers. Integrated multichannel retailing approach means meeting customers` needs better by exploiting the advantages and overcoming the weaknesses of each channel. In that context, key issues regarding advantages and challenges of multichannel retailing are also discussed.