Double Play Could sending a paper catalog to customers boost your e-commerce business?

Whether your goal is to entice customers to shop at your Web site more often or to combat stagnating sales, you could try boosting business with a decidedly traditional strategy: the catalog.

It's not a new trend per se, but those e-tailers taking the plunge are seeing real results. The idea is to increase the number of touch points you have with your customers so you can ultimately build more sales. It's common knowledge, after all, that people who shop in multiple channels are more valuable than single-channel shoppers.

Research conducted earlier this year by comScore Networks, for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), found that a business doubles its chances of making an online sale by mailing a catalog. Other findings from "The Multi-Channel Catalog Study" include: