How to make a good product catalogue: everything you need to know

Catalogues are part of everyday life. They arrive in the post, we pick them up in shops or browse them online. They are an excellent way to present what you offer, from new arrivals and promotions to your permanent range. Customers enjoy leafing through them, and they are an effective sales tool.
In this article we look at how you can create a successful catalogue.

What is a catalogue?

A catalogue is a publication designed to present a company's products. It is a list, usually in the form of a book or magazine, of all the items a company has for sale. It can also be a list of the items available to buy on a particular website.

Why use a catalogue?

There are several reasons a retailer might choose to use a catalogue. First, it can be a very effective way to reach your target audience: by carefully selecting the products featured and distributing the catalogue to the right people, a retailer can be sure of reaching the right consumers.

Second, a catalogue can help increase sales. By presenting products attractively and giving information about special offers and discounts, it can encourage customers to buy.

Finally, a catalogue can help build awareness of a company. By presenting a wide range of products and using attractive visuals and branding, it can raise brand awareness and create positive associations with the brand.

Types of catalogues

The two main types are printed and online catalogues. Printed catalogues are physical, paper documents, usually distributed by post. Online catalogues are digital versions that can be accessed on a website or in a mobile app. Online catalogues offer a number of advantages, such as the ability to reach a wider audience and to track customer engagement. Printed catalogues, however, still have advantages of their own, such as creating a more tactile, personal experience for the customer.

Advantages and disadvantages of catalogues

1. Advantages of catalogues

Catalogue marketing has been around for decades and remains an effective tool for generating sales. There are many ways to reach customers online, but a well-designed printed or digital catalogue can help you reach your audience in a more personal way.

Catalogues can be very effective at reaching a target audience because you can focus on a specific demographic when you design them. For example, if you are specifically trying to reach young mothers with children aged 6 to 12, it makes more sense to send the catalogue to them than to post it to everyone in your area.

Another benefit of catalogues is increased sales. If people like what they see in your catalogue, they are likely to come to the shop to buy it. However, more sales do not automatically mean more profit, since the money from those sales may not fully cover the cost of printing and distributing the catalogue.

A third benefit is that catalogues can help build awareness of your brand and of new products or services among your existing customers. For example, if you sell cosmetics, offering free samples of new products could help people discover them and potentially boost sales once they are available to buy.

The fourth main advantage of printed or digital shopping catalogues is that they are very easy to track if you use barcodes and QR codes for every product in them. This makes it easier for recipients to find out more about the products they see, and easier for you to measure how much business those offers generated during a print or digital campaign.

2. Disadvantages of catalogues

Using catalogues as a marketing tool also has a few disadvantages.

The first is that they can be expensive to produce, especially if you print in full colour. The second is that it can be difficult to reach a wide audience if you only distribute the catalogue by post. And the third is that customers may not take the time to look through the whole catalogue, so they could miss important information about your products or services.

How do you design a catalogue?

If you want to design a great catalogue, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, choose the products you present carefully. Second, make sure the catalogue is well designed and easy to navigate. Third, make sure it is distributed to the right people. Finally, track customer engagement so you can judge how successful it has been.

7 tips for creating a catalogue

1. Purpose of the catalogue

The first thing to do is decide what your catalogue is for. That will determine the kind of content to include and how the catalogue should be designed.

Some of the most common goals are:

Informing the public about the company or product

If the catalogue is meant to raise awareness of a company or product, keep the content light, attractive and relevant to customers. If, on the other hand, it is meant to engage customers, focus on the problems they have that your products solve, and on promoting those products.

Promoting products

If the goal is to promote products, the catalogue will focus on product descriptions, prices and availability. The aim is clear: to encourage customers to buy.

Boosting sales

If the catalogue is meant to increase sales, it should focus on special offers, discounts and time-limited deals. Include enough information to persuade customers to buy.

2. Simple, high-quality and organised design

First, you need a clear vision of how you want your catalogue to look. That means having a particular aesthetic in mind, whether modern and minimalist or colourful and quirky. Once you have that vision, choose the right paper and printing techniques to bring it to life. Pay attention to the layout and typography, making sure the catalogue is easy to navigate and the text is easy to read. Finally, don't forget to add some personality: a few well-placed photos or illustrations can go a long way towards making your catalogue stand out and appeal to readers.

3. Use high-quality images

Another important element of catalogue design is high-quality images. This matters most if you sell products that customers need to see before deciding to buy, such as clothing, jewellery or furniture. Always use clear, sharp, professional-looking images.

4. Use strong copy

As well as high-quality images, you need persuasive copy (marketing text) in your catalogue: language that will convince customers to buy your products. Focus on the benefits of your products and avoid overly "salesy" language. In other words, avoid long paragraphs and use short, punchy descriptions that highlight your products' key features.

5. Highlight special offers and discounts

Highlight any special offers or discounts in your catalogue. It is a great way to encourage customers to buy, and can include special deals, coupons or even free delivery.

6. Pay attention to details

Attention to detail matters when designing a catalogue. That includes the size and orientation of the pages, the paper stock and weight, and even the binding you choose. Getting the details right ensures the catalogue is high quality and looks professional.

7. Make ordering easy

Finally, make it easy for customers to order the products they want from the catalogue. That means including clear ordering instructions, the locations of shops or online shops where they can see the products in person or find out more, and any other sales information they need.

Examples from our work

Three catalogues we have designed show how these tips work in practice:

• Credo centar: for this Zagreb distributor of bathroom and sanitary ware we designed several annual editions of its product catalogue, running to 100 pages or more and available both in print in its showrooms and online.
• Cadieux Paris: this fashion label's new collection was full of bright colours and striking patterns, so we kept the catalogue's graphic treatment minimal and let the clothes and professional photography take centre stage.
• Sitolor: a printed and digital catalogue in which this Slavonski Brod manufacturer of paints and varnishes for construction presents its range to customers and partners.

Conclusion

A catalogue is an excellent way to promote products, increase sales and strengthen your brand identity. If you take care over the design process, you will create a catalogue that is attractive and enjoyable to read. Customers will enjoy browsing it and will connect with your company and products. A catalogue is also a great way to raise awareness of a product or company. Don't rush the design; take the time to make sure the catalogue is of the highest quality.

If you are preparing a new catalogue or brochure, our Catalogues and brochures page explains what the service includes.

If you liked this article, you can read more about graphic design on our blog.

Need a catalogue? Send us the format, an approximate page count and your deadline via our contact form or by email, and we will send you a quote.

Thank you for reading!