We all know what it is like to head to the mail box anticipating a package, check, or special letter. We all also know the disappointment when we open the mail box to find 10 envelopes filled with junk mail and credit card offers. There are also days when thick, heavy catalogs are stuffed so tight into the mailbox they rip when you pull them out.
Usually companies such as Sear’s, Eastbay, JcPenney, and so on send catalogs at least once a year to their credit cardholders. They tend to send these catalogs in the winter, before the Christmas shopping season. Many people can remember as children running to the mail box every day, waiting to get the Sears Great American Wish List catalog. Weeks would be spent looking over every inch of the catalog, circling with a marker what toys and new gadgets they wanted Santa to bring.
As much as I’d like to see the Sear’s Wish List catalog come back, I also cringe at the thought of millions of pieces of paper and ink wasted. It is expensive for a store to print such large catalogs and even expensive to mail the heavy things. However, the allure of seeing all that a store has to offer is also still there. Consumers want to be able to sit down and let the store show them the toys.
If department stores would like a unique and creative way to gain an edge against competitor stores this Christmas shopping season, they should consider bringing back the beloved catalog, except on a CFgear flash drive. Thousands of pages of toy after toy could be placed on the flash drive. Pictures, descriptions, and possibly even a few videos could be included.
There could be a section to actually create a wish list. Children could spend hours skimming through the organized flash drive and save their favorite choices. There could also be a section with possible store sales, coupons, or promotions. Contact and store location/hours information could also be included.
When a consumer pops the lightweight, convenient flash drive into a USB drive, INSTARUN technology will automatically pop up a picture of the store’s choice, their logo, and company name. Christmas music could also be uploaded. While looking through the virtual catalog, a customer could pick and choose to hear their favorite Christmas tunes.
The exterior of the flash drive could be custom designed by the department store. Color matching technology could make the flash drive the color that is associated with the store, or they may want to go with Christmas colors. Their logo and department store name or “Wish List” could be laser engraved or printed onto the flash drive. Every time the consumer uses their flash drive, they will be reminded of that particular store.
CFgear will use Pulse technology to preload text, audio, videos, pictures, or any other desired digital file. Stores can choose to have the flash drive be rewritable. After the holiday season, the cardholder could use the flash drive for home, school, or business. Unlike a CD or DVD, the CFgear flash drive can be filled, edited, deleted, and so on for continuous use.
The flash drives would allow the store to highlight each and every one of their products and can almost guarantee that the parent and kids will actually plug it in and see what it is all about. While it will not have the same smell and feel as the 500 page catalog, it is an environmentally friendly solution that will allow for the viewing of thousands of products.
If your store is tired of doing the same old, cheap looking wish book, consider CFgear bulk flash drives. Holding a Sear’s catalog remains a memory in so many’s minds. Perhaps plugging in a flash drive would do the same for this technology oriented generation.