 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
Founded in 1982, Performance Bicycle has since grown into the country’s leading retailer of cycling gear. A robust cataloger, Performance also sells through its Web site and operates over 85 retail stores in more than a dozen states.
Like many other retailers and catalog marketers, Performance Bicycle wanted to boost sales in its retail stores. Although the company has enjoyed steady growth for years, they wanted a new way to contact and promote to their customers.
The challenge was to drive response for all channels by finding a new way to reach Performance Bicycle customers with an offer that was efficient, cost-effective and motivated them to purchase. The company sends out roughly 17 million pieces annually, including catalogs and retail flyers.
Quad found a way to provide a special offer in the form of two removable, incentive die-cut cards in the catalog to target Performance retail store markets and new customers. The 15% off coupon cards appeared on page 2, with a front cover callout. One card was “For You” and one was “For a Friend,” both with an expiration date to a circulation of about 240,000. The control group just received one coupon printed flat in the inside cover.
On press, the cards were inkjetted with a barcode on the back before they were glued to the inside front cover. We also inkjetted a Smart Match barcode on the back cover. On the stitcher, the Smart Match barcode was read and the recipient’s name and address and messages were inkjetted to match the barcode information on the cards.
There was a 14% lift in response, 10% lift in average order and a 25% lift in $/book from the group that received the catalog with removable cards over the control group that received no cards. Overall there was a significant increase in sales including a large generation of new customers via the “For a Friend” card that did not match the Performance house file. Performance Bicycle estimates that the test version drove slightly more than $1 million in incremental sales. They will roll-out this test to a seasonal drop in 2010.
Get the news first.
