As the holiday season kicks into gear, retailers are scaling down their holiday catalogs to pamphlets in response to rising postal rates and evolving consumer habits.
With consumers gearing up to do some holiday shopping this year, Lands' End, Duluth Trading Company, and Hammacher Schlemmer are among the many brands opting for smaller, postcard-like formats in a bid to cut postage and paper expenses.
The downsizing trend reflects broader shifts in marketing as the once staple of American living rooms, thick catalogs from brands like Sears and J.C. Penney have dwindled and been replaced by compact mailings and digital platforms.
Lisa Ayoob, a tech-savvy shopper from Portland, Maine, noted the size difference as she was taken aback by a recent catalog from outdoor apparel company Carbon2Cobalt.
"It almost felt like it was a pamphlet compared to a catalog," she told the Associated Press.
The shift comes as recent postal hikes have pushed brands to adopt smaller formats. The latest round of postage hikes was in July, with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) increasing the price by 7.8 percent and impacted the category with the 8.5-by-11-inch size that used to be ubiquitous for the catalog industry.
Newsweek has reached out to USPS via email for comment on Saturday morning.
Paul Miller, executive vice president and managing director of the American Commerce Marketing Association, told the AP that brands are opting to put them in a lower-cost letter category such as one called a "slim jim," which measures 10.5 by 5.5 inches.
However, there are other sizes as some retailers have further reduced costs by mailing large postcards to consumers.
Angie Rieger, chief transformation officer of Lands' End, told the AP the brand is testing new compact formats to supplement its traditional catalogs, adding that this year, that included folded glossy brochures and postcards.
However, iconic brands like L.L. Bean said they are sticking with its classic catalog designs, citing its enduring appeal.
"By showcasing our icons, the catalog became an icon itself," L.L. Bean spokesperson Amanda Hannah told the AP. "Even as we invest more in our digital and brand marketing channels, the catalog retains a strong association with our brand, and is therefore an important part of our omni-channel strategy, especially for our loyal customers."
L.L. Bean is not the only brand continuing its classic catalogs as J.Crew relaunched its glossy catalog this year. According to Jonathan Zhang, a marketing professor at Colorado State University, the tactile nature of printed catalogs still holds effective even in the digital age.
"The reason why these paper formats are so effective is that our human brains haven't evolved as fast as technology and computers over the past 10 to 20 years. We retain more information when we read something on paper. That's why paper books remain relevant," he told the AP. "The psychology shows that three-dimensional, tactile experiences are more memorable."
However, this comes as there is a 40 percent drop in catalog mailings between 2006 and 2018, when an estimated 11.5 billion were mailed to homes, according to the trade group formerly known as the American Catalog Mailers Association.
Retailers mailed more than 300 million catalogs in November 2021, according to the USPS, even after postal rates were given a hefty 9 percent boost in August 2021.
Officials also said that the total number of catalogs has increased 12 percent over 2020, signaling that the shopping publications might still have a place in an increasingly digital world.
Despite the drop these printed pieces remain relevant as strategic tools. Retailers now embed QR codes and promo links, transforming catalogs into gateways for online shopping. Notably, even e-commerce giants like Amazon have entered the game, distributing toy catalogs since 2018.
Newsweek has also reached out to Amazon via email for comment.
Some companies' catalogs have remained present and steady throughout the years, including those from L.L. Bean, Lands' End and Hammacher Schlemmer. Amazon and Wayfair are among those that have just begun sending out catalogs in recent years, and others that were previously halted, like Sharper Image and J. Peterman, have re-emerged.
Meanwhile, for eco-conscious consumers and cost-cutting retailers alike, smaller catalogs might just be the perfect fit for a new era of holiday shopping.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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