PAPER OR INTERNET?

Central Penn Business Journal, Mar 23, 2007 by Bair, Jessica

REGION

Choice to market with mail-order catalog, Web site depends on business

Wilbur Chocolate Company Inc. has yet to venture into the world of e-commerce. The Lancaster County chocolate manufacturer continues to depend on its mail-order catalog to bring in retail sales outside of its store in Lititz, said Randy Martin, a project manager who helps design the catalog for the company.

Wilbur is one retailer in Central Pennsylvania that still relies on a mail-order catalog to drive sales. Sources claim that a combination of catalogs and the Web is an effective way to pull in sales outside of a storefront.

Wilbur lists product offerings on its Web site, but it is not set up to accept orders electronically. Martin would like to set the Web site up so that items could be purchased online. While the company is considering it, there is no timeline for that project.

Even if Wilbur would begin online sales, a mail-order catalog would always be used, Martin said.

"I think there would always be a catalog. When you put two sales tools together, they typically are much more efficient. Not everybody has a computer. A lot of people just like to be able to hold the catalog and see it," Martin said.

Wilbur Chocolate has a long history that ranges back into the late 1800s, but the current incorporated name was established in 1958, according to the company's Web site. The majority of Wilbur's business is devoted to being an industrial-food supplier, Martin said. The company sells about 150 million pounds of chocolate each year, Martin said.

On the opposite end of the catalog spectrum is Lebanon-based Wertz Candies. The candy maker has shied away from the idea of a mail-order catalog and instead has focused on using the company's Web site to sell products.

"When the Internet first came on the scene, we realized that that was where it was going to be happening," said Bill Wertz, president of the company. "If I could get the aroma of our store in cyberspace, that would be the ultimate (sales tool)."

The company does use a tri-fold brochure that can be mailed out to customers, but it doesn't include pricing information. It does include the company's contact information and Web address. Customers can call in an order, visit the retail shop or use the Web site to purchase products. That brochure is included in the boxes of candy that the company mails out.

"Having a glossy mail-ordertype catalog really wouldn't suit our needs. There are certain businesses (where) it's an absolute necessity," Wertz said. "Often what happens is they'll open (the box) up, taste the chocolate, think it's good, see the brochure, see the Web site address and pop onto that."

About 15 years ago, mail-order catalogs stood on their own to sell products, but that changed as the popularity of the Internet increased, said Jim Tilberry owner of Illinoisbased Tilberry Direct Marketing.

Tilberry has worked in the mailorder catalog industry for more than 20 years and helps small companies place their products in independent general-merchandise catalogs.

"You can't put every product in the catalog, but you can put every product on the Web site," Tilberry said. "Something has to drive customers to the Web site. A Web site is like a store; a catalog is like a doorto-door salesman."

BY JESSICA BAIR

jessicab@journalpub.com