The Associated Press reports that while LL Bean has been growing its Internet business at a faster pace than its traditional catalog business – its web-based sales are expected to be up 27 percent this year, while the catalog business is likely to be up less than seven percent – that doesn’t mean that it is cutting back on catalog mailings.
In fact, LL Bean has no plans to eliminate any of the more than 200 catalog mailings that it does each year, and isn’t even trimming its phone center staff.
The reason? Bean has discovered that some people like to order on line after having thumbed through the catalog, and some people like to call in their orders after having perused the company’s website.
And here’s the remarkable thing – LL Bean is beginning the process of opening up brick-and-mortar stores, suggesting that the company has come to the realization that to survive long-term, it has to have a multi-channel, multimedia approach to reaching out to the customer.
In fact, LL Bean has no plans to eliminate any of the more than 200 catalog mailings that it does each year, and isn’t even trimming its phone center staff.
The reason? Bean has discovered that some people like to order on line after having thumbed through the catalog, and some people like to call in their orders after having perused the company’s website.
And here’s the remarkable thing – LL Bean is beginning the process of opening up brick-and-mortar stores, suggesting that the company has come to the realization that to survive long-term, it has to have a multi-channel, multimedia approach to reaching out to the customer.
- KC's View:
- Remember the MNB mantra…retailers have to be where the customer wants, when the customer wants, how the customer wants, with the products the customer wants at a price the customer deems appropriate. It’s that easy…
