Tips for testing Paper

According to a recent MultiChannel Merchant article, when the going gets tough, catalogers often look at changing their paper to cut costs. According to the recent MCM Outlook 2010 survey on Catalogs, 39.2% of respondents said they had decreased their paper stock/weight in the past 12 months. Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to reducing you paper weight:

-Lowering paper weight will not only reduce your paper costs because you'll be using fewer tons, it could potentially reduce your postal costs too.

-Lowering weight may allow you to add more pages to your catalog without increasing your budget.

-Moving to a lighter basis weight also means compromising opacity (show through). Test heavier weight paper to if there's a rise in response rates.

As rough as last year was economically for many catalogers, 13.6% of Outlook 2010 survey respondents said they had increased paper stock/weight in the past 12 months.

“Increasing paper weight is not necessarily a bad thing,” Warburton says. “It may cost a little more money, but as long as you are just maximizing postage (and not going into the piece/pound rate), the incremental costs should not be that significant.”

Lastly, the article notes to consider the following when it comes to paper for your catalogs: brightness, bulk, use paper samples, work with your printer and paper suppliers, segment your test subjects, test it on press. Check ut the full article here.