In a test last week of emailing electronic previews of its catalog and advertising inserts for Sunday newspapers, multi-channel home furnishings retailer Bombay Co. realized an immediate lift in online sales over several consecutive days, vice president of ecommerce Matt Corey tells InternetRetailer.com. The company also expects to see a lift in yet-to-be counted store sales, he adds.

The email campaign sends messages to customers who have signed up to receive Bombay emailed promotions, calling their attention to forthcoming Sunday newspaper advertising inserts and catalogs available in electronic versions on Bombay`s retail shopping site, Bombayco.com. The email includes hyperlinks to the online versions of the advertising inserts and catalogs.

Bombay sent out the test email on Friday to showcase the following Sunday`s newspaper insert and a catalog preview. With a total of 10 home furnishings catalogs it distributes each year, plus three for its new BombayKids brand of bedding and other products for children, Bombay expects to email several catalog promotions following its test. But it plans to limit the emails to no more than two per week so as not to overload customers` inboxes, Corey says.

The presentation of the Sunday ad inserts and catalogs on Bombayco.com is itself a new multi-channel strategy helping to drive web traffic. The online catalogs and Sunday advertising inserts each appears on the web with the same detail as print versions, and each page can be clicked to enlarge product photos and make product descriptions and prices easier to read. "Our total online operations are doing great over last year, but on top of that we`re getting 8-10% increase in traffic by using this online catalog tool," Corey says.

Source: Internet Retailer Wednesday, July 16, 2003