Catalog Choice, a not-for-profit service, was created in October 2007 to provide consumers with a free, easy-to-use means of reducing the number of unwanted catalogs they receive and to communicate their catalog preferences. The site also provides direct links to merchants, as well as electronic versions of many catalogs, to enable consumers to shop online with merchants who provide superior customer service and share their environmental ethics. Catalog Choice is supported with funding from The Overbrook Foundation, the Kendeda Fund, the Merck Family Fund, the Weeden Foundation, and Mead Foundation. To see how the service works, visit www.CatalogChoice.org. Catalog Choice is sponsored by the
"The one million Catalog Choice members will be very pleased with this partnership," said Chuck Teller, Executive Director of Catalog Choice. "Our members recognize the importance of merchant participation in making Catalog Choice an even stronger service for simplifying their lives. We're pleased to work with these major brands as they take a leading role in their industry and join the 250 visionary merchants who have been honoring customer preferences through their established accounts on our site. This move will enhance the loyalty of their customers."
Since its launch in October 2007 Catalog Choice has received many questions about the service from catalog mailers. We hope these responses address your questions. If you have additional inquiries, please contact April Smith at april.smith@catalogchoice.org or 802-496-5547.
What are the details of the merchant partnership announced in September 08?
Catalog Choice collaborated with a leading group of merchants, including Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, L.L. Bean, as well as the American Catalog Mailers Association, to develop a new license agreement that better serves the needs of both consumers and catalog mailers. These merchants partnered with Catalog Choice because they view the service as the best way to give consumers a convenient, trusted, and free way to express their mail preferences. They recognize Catalog Choice as the leading independent mail preference service with broad catalog merchant participation. This partnership reflects our team's commitment to make Catalog Choice the best mail preference solution for both consumers and mailers.
How is the new Catalog Choice license agreement different from the old one?
The new Catalog Choice license agreement articulates a set of guidelines for Catalog Choice and merchants that participate in the service. The agreement formalizes a privacy policy and information security standards; clearly states Catalog Choice's position to not advocate for federal or state legislation regarding Do Not Mail issues; and ensures that names collected through the service will not be rented, sold or exchanged with any third party unaffiliated with the service. The revised agreement gives mailers 90 days to act on mail preference requests, which are good for two years and can be updated by the consumer. The agreement also gives the merchant more flexibility with regard to staying in touch with recent buyers.
What process does Catalog Choice use to validate its data?
Our lists are verified using industry standards. Catalog Choice uses the same authentication and verification process followed by the FTC for the Do Not Call registry. Upon registration we send an email to the member's email account that includes a unique authentication link for the user. The member's account is not fully verified until either he/she clicks the verification link or contacts our customer service team to request manual verification. If a merchant has any concerns about the validity of the data on its file, we work with them to address the issue. If incomplete information has been provided by one of our members, we can ask the user to provide complete information. It is very important to us that the data we provide companies is both verifiable and valid, and we are open to discussing how to best assure the quality of our lists with merchants.
Can my service bureau work directly with Catalog Choice to integrate the file into the merge-purge process?
Yes, we encourage this practice. Once you as the merchant activate the Catalog Choice account, you can provide your login information to your service bureau(s) so that they can access your file directly. Catalog Choice will be adding a feature that allows the merchant to provide authority to their service bureau to access their account through a dedicated Service Bureau login. The service bureau role will allow them to download the data or identify a secure FTP site to which Catalog Choice can push the file daily.
What is Catalog Choice planning to do with all the names the service is capturing
Catalog Choice's privacy policy clearly states that we only use our member contact information for the intended purpose of expressing the mail preference of the user to the merchant. The secure way to do this is by having the merchant establish a Merchant Account to download a file. Consistent with its published policy, Catalog Choice does not rent, sell, trade, or share our data with any third party not affiliated with our service.
Do I have to activate my account to analyze my file?
No. We understand that merchants may wish to analyze their file before activating their account. We can do this a number a ways: by zip file, by posting to a secure site, or by mailing a password protected CD. Catalog Choice, however, has an obligation to the consumer to deliver the mail preference requests to all merchants in our system.
What is Catalog Choice's position on Do Not Mail legislation?
Our license agreement states that we will not engage in federal or state legislative advocacy. Catalog Choice supports the industry's efforts to self-regulate and believes that honoring opt out requests through Catalog Choice is an important voluntary step toward achieving this goal. A voluntary approach to mail preferences can provide mutual benefits to consumers and merchants. Catalog Choice, which operates under a 501(c)3 nonprofit status, does not engage in political activity.
What is Catalog Choice's fundamental position on catalogs?
We support catalog mailings that are desired by the mail recipient. We acknowledge the benefits that catalog shopping provides the consumer; time savings, convenience, and even some environmental benefits. Catalogs also give the consumer the ability to identify niche and hard-to-find products. Direct mail also gives smaller companies the opportunity to compete with large retailers. Many of us are catalog shoppers ourselves. Our mission is to reduce the number of unwanted catalogs by providing consumers with a free and convenient mail preference service.
How often is the participating merchant expected to download and process names?
This is up to the merchant, depending on your catalog production and delivery schedule. We suggest that merchants take our names at least once a month, and then monitor their download activity so that names are processed on a regular basis. Catalog Choice will send you periodic reminders if the file has not been downloaded in 60 days.
Do you provide links to merchants' websites for information and shopping?
Yes, we do provide links to merchant's websites and we track the click-through counts from Catalog Choice to these sites. Between October 2007 and October 2008, more than 500,000 links to merchant websites have originated from CatalogChoice.org. We know from user feedback that some click-throughs are resulting in online purchases.
The paper industry encourages recycling and plants 1.7 million trees daily. Isn't that a good thing?
Yes, recycling and tree planting are important, but more can be done by decreasing paper waste associated with unwanted catalogs at the source, reducing natural resource impacts associated with unwanted catalogs in the first place and promoting sustainable forestry practices. Simply put, unwanted catalogs - ones that are not read by consumers - represent a use of resources and generation of waste that results in no corresponding benefits.
Trees planted by the industry are seedlings, often in plantations, that lack the biodiversity of well-managed and intact forests. Increasingly, these tree plantings are on plantations where even the "grown" trees are cut within 7-15 years. These trees cannot replace older, diverse, natural forests. Old-growth and mature natural forests store as much as 50 percent more carbon than newly planted stands-even those that are as much as 70 years in age.
Many catalog companies are examining where their paper comes from and some mailers, such as REI, Room & Board, and Williams-Sonoma, are incorporating FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper into their catalogs. Other catalog mailers are establishing carbon reduction goals, incorporating environmentally friendly packaging into their shipments, and establishing corporate-wide environmental policies and programs. In addition to reducing unwanted catalogs, the vision of Catalog Choice is to help develop and foster, with merchant input, best environmental practices like these in the catalog industry.
What is your current position with the DMA?
We support the DMA's efforts to improve its mail preference service for consumers. We have been engaged in a dialogue with the DMA about our service since before our launch in October 2007. We believe that DMAChoice.org and CatalogChoice.org complement each other. Many of our participating merchants are instructing their mail recipients to communicate mail preferences one of three ways: To the mailer directly, to the DMA, and through Catalog Choice.
Who are the organizations and funders behind Catalog Choice?
Catalog Choice is a fiscally sponsored project of the
Will the service remain free for catalog mailers and the consumer?
Catalog Choice is committed to maintaining a free service for both consumers and merchants. Catalog Choice is exploring opportunities to generate revenue to ensure the sustainability of the service. These include sponsorship as well as offering premium services to merchants. The basic mail preference service will remain free to merchants.
Do you support email opt-in?
Currently, the mail preference is only for direct mail. We will be adding a system that members can use to opt-in to an electronic relationship instead of obtaining paper catalogs.
What if my good customers "opt-out" of my catalog? Can I still send them mail?
While we encourage mailers to honor all mail preference requests, Catalog Choice is a voluntary program. As a participating Merchant you will retain the right to send catalogs to Catalog Choice members who have purchased from your company in the past year.
How else can I contact the Catalog Choice members who opt-out of my catalog?
As part of your download file, we will be providing a unique Catalogchoice.org email address that corresponds to the Catalog Choice member and your catalog title. You can use this email address to send an acknowledgment message to the consumer.
