If you create a printed catalogue it is a quarterly or annual tour de force with arguments about whether prices should be included (they might change before the next print run!), what to do about products that are added or deleted form the range etc etc.
A web based catalogue can go a long way to solving these issues as long as it obeys the following rules.
Our strongest example is Newsstand Magazines and there are many features that we are working on and refining all the time. Ways of increasing the number of visitors to the site, increasing the likelyhood of them buying, increasing the value of their purchases.
Do not:
- Replicate your paper brochure on a computer screen
- It will not work and misses out all the advantages.
Do:
- Put the data into a database so that it can be easily updated.
- Design the database so that it is flexible.
- Create the data entry pages in such a way that the data can be added by anybody with reasonable keyboard skill (but not requiring IT skills).
- Create the output pages so that the information can be found quickly and easily.
Even though the database is held on the website, make sure that the content is available for use in the office so that such things as pricing information always comes from a single source – avoiding the risk of presenting different prices to customers.
By removing the constraints of a periodic updates and the expense of the print run and postage, it is possible to allow the catalogue to grow and become a more versatile business tool.
Show all the new products, variants and even test market future planned products.
Sell wholesale and retail
Update pricing as and when you want to
Provide discount structures for different clients or classes of client.
Add photos of all your products that you take with your own digital camera. (The quality may be less than that provided by professional photographers, but the variety and immediacy will more than compensate for the difference).