Tactics > the Green Issue


from a renewable source. We have also recently appointed Home Delivery Network; we were drawn to them because of their environmental programme including training drivers to maximise delivery efficiency whilst out on the road, minimising return journeys by offering a variety of options to achieve first-time delivery as often as possible and purchasing the most fuel-efficient vehicles for the purpose of delivering parcels to homes. We also carry out the fundamentals:


Recycling all our office paper, plastics, bottles, glass, tins, and pallets. We use washable mugs for our tea and coffee—it sounds basic, but the little things do make a difference. We always use energy-efficient lighting in our warehouse and factory, set computers to hibernate or turn off when not required, use recycled paper, biodegradable void-fill, and recycled plastic bags.


Q. Do you think we’ll see more businesses adopting more environmentally friendly practices? What advice can you give those businesses that want to do more? I think businesses are becoming more aware of their environmental responsibilities, and when


Comment piece: Greener and smarter By Lara Bonney and Joanna Reynolds


Catalogues are often perceived as harmful to the environment and an unnecessary waste of trees. However, according to the confederation of paper sources, direct mail accounts for less than 1 percent of UK landfill and paper is generally made from pulp which is largely left over from when trees are felled for other commercial purposes. In fact, more trees are being planted in the UK than those being harvested, so we are “tree positive”. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t play our part in environmental reformation and it is important that those within the mail order industry do what they can to reduce catalogue wastage. A significant number of catalogues are


still being mailed to people throughout the UK who are unlikely to buy from them—this is unnecessary and the focus needs to be placed on bringing this number down. It seems to be common practice that the majority of mail order businesses mail their 0-12 month customer files regularly and while this segment of customers is usually


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profitable to mail, it could be reduced by identifying the customers who are unlikely to buy if mailed again. Many data providers can build bespoke suppression models at a very low cost to identify the people in your 0-12 month customer file that are not frequent mail order buyers and perhaps made a one- off purchase that is unlikely to be repeated. The cost of database suppression is usually far outweighed by the savings generated by mailing fewer catalogues and you can have the added satisfaction of knowing that you generated the same number of customers whilst saving paper and postage miles. The same is true for those forming part


of enquirer files. Too many enquirers, particularly those who requested a catalogue more than six months ago, seem to be mailed in the hope that they will become customers, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Certain people within this group may simply be “catalogue requesters” who rarely proceed to the purchasing phase. Take, for example, a woman who often requests catalogues to look at the different clothing styles and


fashions but prefers purchasing from a retail outlet so she can try things on. Or a husband who generally shops through mail order for his garden but on one occasion decided to order a dress as a gift for his wife’s birthday. Both of these consumers offer little future revenue potential if you are a mail order fashion business, so by mailing them you are wasting money, paper and the energy that goes into creating and delivering a catalogue.


Be smart with your mailings—target those


most likely to respond to your offer and do your part for the environment, as well as your marketing budget.


Lara Bonney is client services director at data management specialist Abacus and Joanna Reynolds is managing director at consultancy Reynolds + Busby + Lee.


Catalogue e-business www.catalog-biz.com


it comes to advice, the best tip I can offer is keep it simple: • Recycle everything you can—it’s cheaper than landfill so you’re costing the business money if you don’t. • Look for the areas where you’re making the biggest impact on the environment and concentrate on them. Any improvements made


here will have the largest effect. If you’re struggling to find aspects to work on, seek help. Business Link (www.businesslink. gov.uk) has been great for us. It did a site survey to highlight areas for improvement and helped to find a local firm that could use our off-cuts and even helped with funding for research and part of the ISO.


Karl Headleand


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