Parable Expands In-House Mailing Department

Change will allow even more personalized services for member stores

Louisville, Kentucky, CBA Expo 2001—The Parable Group will bring its centralized mailing services completely in-house by March 2001, taking advantage of technology that was not available four years ago when Parable first began handling catalog mailings for member stores.

“This move will give local Parable stores the same level of cost-saving and accuracy enjoyed by the nation’s largest retailers,” says Jim Seybert, VP, Marketing for The Parable Group. “Parable member stores now have a mailing program second to none in the Christians products industry.”

Parable hopes to help stores hold the line on rising postage costs and increase catalog response rates by maintaining a mailing program that is “faster and more accurate” than anything else available to Christian retailers, according to Seybert.

When Parable started mailing catalogs for stores in October 1995, the process required powerful mainframe computers and a great deal of “hands on” attention. The advent of super-fast PCs and more powerful databases has made it possible for companies like Parable to bring its mailing services in-house and provide the same “Tier One” service offered by traditional mailing houses such as Metromail®, Expedia® and Axiom®. Parable staff members will undergo extensive training by the software provider and the entire program will be evaluated by The Wheaton Group, a national consulting company specializing in mailing services and strategies for retailers.

As part of the upgrade, Parable expects to be certified by the US Postal Service as an NCOA-FastForward® provider within the next six months. FastForward is a USPS database that contains change of address information on customers who have moved within the past six months. As a certified provider, Parable will be able to run change of address updates each time a member store sends a catalog through the system. This feature alone could mean significant savings to retailers as the Postal Service estimates that between 16 and 20 percent of the population move each year. “As far as we know, Parable stores will be the only Christian retailers whose lists are updated through FastForward every time they mail,” says Seybert. To ensure security and accuracy, the USPS conducts quarterly audits of FastForward providers.

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Parable In-House Mailing Service, page two

In addition to the processing that occurs with each mailing, Parable is also starting to send updated change-of-address files back to each store’s point-of-sale system. First to receive the exported files will be stores equipped with the point-of-sale software, IRT. Stores using the IBID, Bookstore Manager and R2I software will be added as these software providers make necessary upgrades.

Bringing the mailing program in-house is the completion of a long-term goal for Parable founder and president Steve Potratz. “We’re passionate about helping retailers grow their business and ministry,” he says, “and as good as an outside provider can be, they’ll never reach the same level of personalized service we demand for Parable stores.”

Parable Christian Stores consists of more than 330 independently owned Christian retail outlets located in the U.S. and Canada. The Parable Group provides diverse marketing tools for its member stores such as e-commerce sites, in-store merchandising kits, exclusive products, weekly bestseller lists and catalogs. In 2000, Parable shipped more than 29.7 million catalogs, newspaper inserts, and other promotional mailings in 25 marketing campaigns.

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January 31, 2001