Did you receive them? Found in many mailboxes in this second pandemic holiday season were paper catalogues from Toys “R” Us, Mastermind Toys and perhaps most surprisingly, the . Amazon first launched a toy catalogue in 2018 and .
While it might seem that paper catalogues would be relegated to history with the advent of e-commerce, it seems as if, at least for these retailers, .
To understand why catalogues formed part of these retailers’ promotional strategy, let’s explore some retail history.
Connection to the past
, produced its first mail-order catalogue, .
These catalogues are so important to the history of Canada that you can see them in the collections of the . Some Christmas catalogues grew .
Nostalgia and childhood
The way we celebrate holidays is based in part on what we learned from our families as children. Consumer studies researchers have examined how holidays ideally involve the creation of special foods that take time and effort, the coming together of special people in our lives and .
Thinking positively about people, events or places that happened . We can even feel nostalgia for something that occurred before we were born through seeing objects from the past, or hearing the memories of others.
Some contemporary consumers or their grandparents in Canada today had the experience of receiving or reading the Eaton’s and Sears Christmas catalogues as children. Sears even called
Amazon, once focused on , promoted its 2020 catalogue as a “” and this year describes it as .
While it is possible to remember without physical artifacts, the three dimensional and tactile information help to reinforce people’s memories and knowledge retrieval. People may have had the experience of , marking it up and folding down the pages — whether or not they received what they wanted.
As Archives Ontario notes, not only did the Eaton’s catalogue make an emotional impression, it even . For example, in The Hockey Sweater, by Québec writer , a devastating means a most unwanted Toronto Maple Leafs sweater from Eaton’s arrives at his childhood home.
Emotion aside, how do catalogues influence sales?
While nostalgia can be a powerful motivator for consumers who consider shopping today at physical toy stores or online retailers, companies must consider catalogues’ effects on sales and return on the investment.
and (both physical stores) have a short corporate histories compared to Eaton’s and Simpson’s (later Simpsons-Sears), and none had mail-order businesses. Mastermind Toys and Amazon grew up during the advent of e-commerce, so using this seemingly old-fashioned technology seems curious.
But let’s consider that while social media seems to attract consumers’ attention and quickly, .
Home-delivered paper catalogues can be part of leisure reading and . Catalogues present images and text that are viewed as the retailer intended, without the mediation imposed by the consumer’s screen size and device capabilities.
Paper catalogues create . Touch creates to purchase.
For toy companies, the October to December period represents almost 50 per cent . The critical job for toy retailers is to get the attention of consumers for their store. As Canada Post argues in a 2015 report promoting direct mail, research suggests direct mail and in leisure spaces can act as an ongoing prompt or reminder to visit.
Connect in new way?
So in addition to selling toys, why is Amazon sending out paper catalogues? Amazon is likely concerned about its brand. The company has faced . It has responded with with varied abilities .
In the face of criticism of its impact on small and medium retailers, Amazon set up to promote products from small and medium Canadian companies. I believe sending paper catalogues helps them tap into the long tradition of Christmas catalogues and connect in an emotional and surprising way with their customers.
Joanne E. McNeish does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
