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J.C. Penney to Stop Printing “Big Book” Catalog

By Adam Dewitz on November 19th, 2009

Citing evolving customer preferences J.C. Penney plans to stop printing its “big book” catalogs. The press release from the company states,

Increasingly, catalog shopping has converged with online and in-store shopping as customers view catalogs as “look books” and inspiration sources for their in-store and online purchases. In response to this convergence and the ongoing migration of customers to shopping online, JCPenney will no longer publish its twice-yearly “big book” catalogs and will dedicate those resources to a range of customized, more timely specialty catalogs, continued targeted growth initiatives on jcp.com and ongoing leading-edge digital media services.

The discontinuation of “big book” catalogs aligns with JCPenney’s ongoing commitment to promote the sustainability of forests and other natural resources, and builds upon its legacy of operating in an ethical and socially responsible manner. The Company anticipates a year-over-year reduction of 25 to 30 percent in paper used for catalogs in 2010 – continuing a four-year trend of declining paper consumption.

The company will focus its efforts online, on mobile applications, and smaller, more personalized catalogs.

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  1. 6 Responses to “J.C. Penney to Stop Printing “Big Book” Catalog”

  2. By Michael J on Nov 20, 2009 | Reply

    I guess I see it a little differently.

    The low hanging fruit for print is printing the special niche catalogs. The market for print is increasing not by getting bigger, but by getting more differentiated.

    1,000,000 runs can be replaced with 1,000,000 different 1000 runs.

    Consider the value created in analytics if each of those niche catalogs have QR codes that emit click streams that can be merged with clickstreams from the web to give a 360 degree picture of customer engagment.

  3. By La Toya Hodge on Nov 20, 2009 | Reply

    There is some good news in this! JCP is working to customize their offerings, thats great for the consumer and the industry. So I agree with the previous post. However the part about their sustainability efforts is puzzling to me, perhaps because reducing paper use and moving to more online media does not automatically equate to environmental reductions… Consider the vast amount of energy, and resources that goes into online applications. Is anyone measuring greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and disposal costs for these tools?

  4. By Adam Edelman on Dec 3, 2009 | Reply

    The end of an era. As kids, we always looked forward to receiving the JC Penny and Sear’s catalogues in the mail around holiday time. Change is good. If only digital “catalogues” could make that “flippity” sound of pages turning fast to get to the toy section!

  5. By Bill Ruesch on Dec 3, 2009 | Reply

    Thank you La Toya,

    The myth that trees and forests are in danger may be true in someplaces, but not here in the USA. Paper mills have been replacing harvested trees at a rate of 3 to 1. We have more trees in this country now that were here when the Constitution was framed 200 years ago.

    I have more information on my blog if you, or anyone would care to check in: http://www.billprintbroker.com/?p=1858

  6. By Gary Littleton on Dec 4, 2009 | Reply

    I agree with Bill Ruesch.

    We need to disprove the notion that the use of printing paper is “killing” trees and forests. We are planting and harvesting trees specifically for paper manufacturing and it continues to irritate me when someone suggests we are saving the forests by refusing to print our documents. Furthermore, for many years the printing industry has helped drive the recycling of these resources. Let’s work to protect and grow vital US agricultural and manufacturing operations we still have.

    BTW – I will miss the “big books” also. Years ago, out in the country, we would keep those catalogs around the house for a long time. Then, when it was time to dispose of them, we had our own unique system for “recycling”.

  7. By Michael J on Dec 4, 2009 | Reply

    Bill,

    Just wanted to say that I thought your post is a great statement of the shallow thinking of the ” save a tree” justification for using digital media.

    This is not to say that it’s not important to consider the full carbon footprint of all communication. Just that the whole “save a tree” thing is just another example of very easy answers to very complex questions.

    I recommend taking a look at the post to get some good thinking next any printer wants to have this conversation with one of their customers.