Australian retailers now have to compete on the world stage. And if you read the Sydney Uni research released recently, we've got a bit of catching up to do. I'll rephrase that, a lot of catching up to do.

For the past 30 years, printed catalogues have been consistently one of the most effective sales drivers for major retailers. Today's catalogues are much more likely to contain customer-engaging, rich content rather than just traditional product and price.

Despite the production process being improved in terms of efficiency, quality, and best of all, cost, some retailers are overlooking the opportunity to include this proven marketing tool into their new more digitally-oriented marketing strategies.

One of marketing's toughest decisions these days is choosing the right channel to place content into the customers' hands, none more so than the debate between digital and traditional, "old-school" media.

We've been helping Freedom produce sales-boosting, award-winning catalogues and content for over 30 years. While it is probably way too early to pronounce the demise of the printed catalogue per se*, online catalogues have certainly become an increasingly significant part of the catalogue landscape.

I recently came across a new concept (for me) which seems to makes a lot of sense - it's called Return on Engagement.

One of the most important considerations for serious consumer marketers these days is User Experience (UX).

 Your customers understand your brand and its values via various touch points - advertising, store design, customer service and, if you are a consumer marketer, your catalogue.

The Problem We had To Solve

For the past 10 years we had produced iconic annual catalogues for Howards Storage World, each year becoming more sophisticated and solution-centric for the Howards customer.

In late 2011, Howards approached us to take their catalogue online.