Exploring Electronic Catalogue: Essential Insights and Tips

Electronic catalogues are essential for businesses to present their products and services in an engaging, accessible format. An electronic catalogue, referred to as an e-catalogue or online catalogue, is essentially a digital version of a product catalogue that can be easily accessed and navigated online. Unlike traditional paper catalogues, electronic catalogues offer a dynamic and interactive experience. They enable businesses to showcase their offerings with multimedia elements such as videos, pop-ups, image galleries, etc. This enhances the user experience and gives companies valuable insights into customer behaviour, allowing for real-time updates and targeted marketing strategies. More businesses are prioritising sustainability and cost-efficiency. 

Let’s find out how the shift from printed catalogues to digital formats is more than a trend.

Electronic Catalogues: An Overview

An electronic or e-catalogue is used by businesses to showcase their products or services and present them to potential customers. Believed to be first developed in 1975 at Ohio State University, USA, online catalogues help businesses simplify the purchasing process. They are a modern alternative to traditional paper-based catalogues. They contain important information about products, including the following:

• Product descriptions
• Product features and unique selling points
• Product specifications, including size, dimension, colour, weight, etc
• Product price
• Product availability 
• Customer testimonials 
• Product Images 

You can share and distribute e-catalogues online simply as a readable and downloadable e-book or catalogue on your website. 

The Advantages of Using Online Catalogue for Your Business

Here’s how businesses can benefit from using electronic catalogues:

• You can easily reach a wider audience with electronic catalogues. Your customers can access your online catalogue anytime and anywhere with an internet connection. Unlike online catalogues, traditional paper-based product catalogues must be distributed, making them inconvenient and not as easily accessible. You can share your online catalogues via email, social media, or as an extension of your eCommerce website. Moreover, you wouldn’t have to share the catalogues exclusively with customers. They can also share your online catalogues with their friends and family.
• Your customers can easily access e-catalogues through any device, including their mobile phones, computers, tablets, etc. It gives them more opportunities to browse and engage with your products. 
• You can easily update the online catalogue with the latest information. Outdated traditional catalogues become useless to your customers. In the future, product prices could change, the product may no longer be available, or you may launch a new product. How do you keep your customers informed about these changes? With traditional catalogues, you may either put in the time and resources to update the catalogue or leave it as it is. Updating the electronic catalogues is much easier. Regardless of whether you want to add a discount coupon, product promotions, etc., you can do so in real time.
• You can save money with online catalogues because it eliminates the costs associated with publishing, distributing, and updating them. This way, you can use the money you’ve saved on traditional catalogues to prioritise other business activities. 
• You can streamline a customer’s buying journey with an online catalogue. Centralising product information in a single, easily accessible format, online catalogues help you improve user experience and increase conversion rates. 
• It enhances visual branding and gives potential customers more opportunities to engage with your brand.
• Online catalogues can help you minimise paper waste and reduce the negative environmental impact. Even IKEA ended the 70-year run of its iconic product catalogue by switching to a digital version. 

Essential Components of a Standard e-Catalogue

Here are the essential elements of an online product catalogue.

• Product name and description

An online product catalogue will include the name and description of the product. Product titles are essential because they act as the primary identifier for each item. Though concise, each product title should directly convey what the product is. It should help them easily recognise and understand the product. However, you can be a little creative with product titles to grab your customer’s attention quickly.

The product description will give your customers a more detailed overview of the product. You can mention the key features and benefits in this section. Product benefits can convince customers of their relevance by informing how your product solves their pain points or improves their quality of life. Envisioning how a product meets their needs can influence their purchasing decision. 

You can also include the product’s unique selling points that set them apart from your competitors. A well-written and brief product description can help you effectively summarise the product’s USP (unique selling point) and encourage customers to make the purchase. 

• Product image

Product images add life to online catalogues. A clear picture can grab your customer’s attention. It can even spark an interest to further explore the product and purchase it. Use high-quality images of your products in the e-catalogue. You can invest in proper equipment for product photography, which will provide actual representation of the product. 

• Product specifications

List the most important information about the product in this section. This includes the product size, colour, weight, dimension, ingredients, etc. You can also include whether the product is currently available. Any piece of information relevant to the customer goes in this section. You can also add directions for use or other information on how to carefully use the product if the product is particularly complex to use. You must provide complete details on each product. It’ll ensure your potential customers have all the information to make an informed decision. It’ll also prevent any shocks and surprises once they receive the product. 

• Product price

No online catalogue is complete with the price of the product. It enables your customers to determine whether you’re offering value for money. Mention the price transparently. You should also mention if the price will vary based on the product’s size, material, or colour. Display if there are any special offers or if the product is eligible for discount coupons. Keep updating the online catalogue as and when the price changes. A customer may be browsing multiple catalogues at the same time. Product prices can help them compare and determine a product’s affordability.

• Customer reviews and testimonials

Though optional, customer reviews and testimonials can work wonders on your potential customers. According to Podium, 9 out of 10 users agree that online reviews influence their buying decisions. Your customers expect high-quality products from you. Most customers wouldn’t even interact with a brand or product with a rating of less than 3.3 stars.

• CTA

Adding a ‘buy now’ button will simplify the buying process for your customers. You wouldn’t want them to keep browsing the online catalogue, redirect them to your website, and again continue browsing. Cutting a few steps from the buying process can help you significantly increase your sales. Besides, all the product information would still be fresh in their mind from browsing the online catalogue. Adding a CTA button may further encourage them to buy the product. 

Best Practices for Designing Effective e-Catalogues

Here are some best practices you should keep in mind when designing an online catalogue for your products.

• Design the online product catalogue for your target audience. Tailor every aspect of the online catalogue, from the font size of the text to the background colours, to match the preferences of your target audience. 
• Position the most important products at the beginning of the online catalogue. These products can include your best-selling products or ones that work well with your target audience. 
• Limit the number of products per page to keep your customers focused and engaged. Since you don’t have to worry about the cost of printing, you can spread your products across more pages.
• Create compelling product descriptions that make customers click, incorporating a little of your brand’s personality and storytelling.
• Show your products from different angles and variants. You can also add a carousel of product images with a ‘see more images’ button. 
• Leverage the power of product videos to enrich your online catalogue and enhance the experience of the user browsing the product. 
• Make it easy for users to shop directly from the online catalogue. You can enable them to check out with a clear CTA button.
• Use big and prominent product images with bright colours and proper lighting to quickly grab your potential customer’s attention.
• Think about user experience and how you can improve it. If your goal is to drive sales with the product catalogue, ensure users can easily find the CTA button to help you secure that deal. 
• You can streamline the product catalogue creation process by saving templates for future use. With a template, you don’t have to start from scratch every time you create a new catalogue. 

Essential Features to Look for in e-Catalogues

Online catalogues will vary in characteristics from one business to another. However, most digital product catalogues will share the following characteristics:

• Online catalogues can come in different formats. The two most common e-catalogue formats include PDFs and interactive flipbooks on the brand’s website.
• Your online catalogue should be in sync with what your brand represents. Your brand’s mission, values, tone, style, and personality should define how the e-catalogue looks and feel.
• Your electronic catalogue should be optimised for mobile devices and easily shareable.
• An online catalogue can also include an online payment functionality for your customers. It can also be linked to your bank’s payment gateway to provide seamless transactions with your current banking systems. 

Exploring Online Catalogue Creators: What They Are and How They Work?

An online catalogue creator is an online tool or software that allows you to easily design visually appealing catalogues to showcase your product offerings. There’s a wide range of catalogue creator software available online. They enable you to create digital catalogues and ones that are ready for print. You can create online catalogues in PDF format or interactive flipbooks. Some online catalogue creator software will also let you use pre-existing templates. You can choose the template that best suits your brand style and other requirements. One of the biggest benefits of using pre-existing templates is that it speeds up the process of creating an online catalogue. 

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Online Catalogue

Creating an online catalogue of products has become quite easy. You just have to follow these steps to create a stunning online catalogue:

• Step 1: Understand your target audience and the reason why you want to create an online catalogue. You can create an online catalogue for marketing, sales, or brand awareness. The purpose of creating an e-catalogue will depend on who you’re targeting. 
• Step 2: Choose a format to create an online product catalogue. It can be a PDF or an engaging flipbook directly embedded on your brand’s website. Select the e-catalogue’s page size and orientation.
• Step 3: Add your product details, including titles, descriptions, prices, images, specifications, etc. Organise these elements so that it’s easier for your potential customers to view and understand the contents of the product catalogue.
• Step 4: Customise the design of your online catalogue based on your brand colours. Ensure you follow the brand guidelines and align them with your brand identity and personality
• Step 5: Publish your e-catalogue online and share it with your potential customers. You can display it on your website and share it on social media to increase its reach. 

Conclusion

The transition to electronic catalogues represents a significant shift in how businesses communicate with customers. They offer a multitude of benefits that extend beyond mere cost savings. With electronic catalogues, businesses can reach a broader audience, provide a richer and more personalised shopping experience, and adapt quickly to changing market conditions in a cost-effective manner. Moreover, the data-driven nature of electronic catalogues allows for continuous improvement in marketing strategies and customer engagement. Electronic catalogues can help businesses stay competitive and relevant in an increasingly digital world