How catalogue shopping got classy

By Megan Lane
BBC News Magazine

Buy into a lovingly-photoed lifestyle

Until recently mail-order shopping was - let's face it - a bit downmarket. Today, it is the affluent who spend the most on catalogue items.

Order from a big book. Pay in instalments. Cheap cheap cheap (but buyer beware the fit of any clothes purchased). That was the image of mail-order shopping even as little as a decade ago.

But changes were already underway, begun in 1988 with the glossy pages of Next Directory.

Today the UK's home shopping capital is no down-at-heel urban centre or remote outpost. The prosperous residents of Henley-on-Thames, a leafy enclave within commuting distance of London, spend the most each year on mail-order and catalogue items - £136 a head.

HOME SHOPPERS Affluent commuter towns account for much of top 10 But at places 3 and 9 are Oban and Fort William Former hot spots Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham spend least - under £30 Experian figures

The top 20 falls into two distinct camps - cash-rich time-poor areas in south England, and remote spots far from the shops (the market mail-order was originally set up to serve).

Melanie Howard, director of the Future Foundation think tank, says this shift is down to convenience and to the range of quality goods available, from desirable clothing to fine foods, exotic plants to home furnishings.

"Lifestyles are changing; with more women working full-time and increasing demands on our leisure time, people want to shop when they want to. They love the convenience of home shopping instead of being faced with the nightmare of struggling to the shops after work or at the weekend."

Technological advances

While some High Street retailers are struggling, the online and catalogue market seems to be buoyant.

They love the convenience of home shopping instead the nightmare of struggling to the shops after work or at the weekend Melanie Howard

With no expensive shop fronts to maintain, niche markets can more easily be served. One of the strongest performers is home shopping group N Brown, which provides shoes and clothing in non-standard sizes.

And figures previously released show that men - many of whom profess to be averse to stores - are increasingly keen on home shopping.

Any mail-order business worth its stamps has a web presence and telephone ordering service - making communication better - not to mention a healthy budget for displaying lovingly photographed wares. Even for those who do not buy, a high-end catalogue - online or in a book - can satisfy all but the most dedicated browser.

Companies serving niche markets - such as foodies - can do well

According to Experian's consumer classification system, Henley's home shoppers are "symbols of success" - people who, among other attributes, choose items which exhibit an air of discretion and understatement.

Which could be the brand values for burgeoning mail-order companies like Boden, which started out in 1991 offering just eight menswear products. Today it ships out 3,000 oh-so-tasteful items a day. One leading fashion writer recently described its children's range as a mix of "old-fashioned, hearty, vaguely upper-middle-class Britishness with... a dash of urban trendiness".

For many, it is a lifestyle they want to buy into.