Leading retailer, John Lewis, announced earlier this week it is to launch its first-ever dedicated fashion catalogue.

The catalogue, published by John Brown and to be distributed through stores and direct mail, is being introduced by the retailer in a drive to establish itself as a fashion destination.

Fronting the high-end, glossy publication, which will feature designer collections by Mulberry and Richard James, is the publisher’s editor-in-chief and former Marie Claire editor, Marie O’Riordan.

The launch marks a rising trend for brand-owned publications, which in recent years has seen New Look, ASOS and H&M all introduce customer magazines to their customer communications tools.

It’s an interesting turnaround for the humble catalogue, which just five years ago looked to become a thing of the past as homeshopping brands ditched the paper format in favour of e-commerce.

A report conducted by Retail Week at the time of the industry shift, highlighted the importance of the catalogue in the customer shopping experience and urged retailers to think twice before eradicating the seasonal brand directories from their communications strategies.

In February of this year, a poll commissioned by Royal Mail further championed the role of the catalogue in the consumer purchase process and revealed almost two-thirds of consumers now consult a catalogue before buying products or services – an increase of nine per cent on the previous year.

Speaking on the results of the Home Shopper Tracking study, Antony Miller, Head of Media Development at Royal Mail, said: “Despite the growth of online retail, the print catalogue still plays a key role for many home shoppers who use them to buy and browse as well as seeking inspiration for new ideas.

“It is also clear that multichannel shopping is becoming the preferred method for most home shoppers as they research the best deals and consider the convenience of buying remotely.”

He added: “Catalogues and the internet offer a powerful combination of information, showing the importance of using the two channels together in the marketing mix.”

With retailers continuing to invest heavily in the development of transactional websites and social media platforms, it is inevitable e-commerce will continue to be the main driving force behind the changing face of retail.

It is clear however, that when it comes to influencing the consumer purchase process, in with the new communications tool does not always mean out with the old.

If only for now, it’s nice to see that catalogues are back in fashion.

Tags: Catalogues, customer communications tools, fashion. John Lewis, homeshopping, Retail

This entry was posted on Friday, October 1st, 2010 at 8:17 am and is filed under Brands, Fashion & Home, General PR, Marketing, PR, Retail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.