The modern catalog

Alongside digital tools, catalogs are still essential for Building Distribution brands.
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Catalogs serving Building Distribution
A reliable and essential tool for brands
Ever in the forefront of innovation, the product catalog is a major tool for Building Distribution brands. Both the paper and electronic versions of catalogs list the thousands of product references and their associated services to make professional and homeowner customers' day-to-day work easier.
Our catalog? Our trade professional customers will tell you that it's their bible!
José Borges
Manager of the La Plateforme du Bâtiment outlet in Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt (France)

They have been around for many years, but catalogs are still a must-have in sales outlets. They present the products and services provided by the Building Distribution Sector in order to boost existing customer loyalty and attract new customers. Even though they are now available in digital format, their paper versions are still just as important as ever for professional and homeowner customers.

The paper catalog: a must for customers

Reliable, complete and easy to carry around, paper catalogs are an additional sales argument. For the brands, they are one aspect of how customers' needs are covered, and they structure the presentation of available products and services. 

Depending on its sales and marketing strategy, each brand adopts its own customized approach to defining its catalog’s editorial line. 

Inside their pages, users will find retail prices, which products are in stock and available, the nearest sales outlets, associated products, advice and diagrams detailing product use and any additional services.

The following are several examples of how Building Distribution Sector brands define the products and services they offer:

  • In France, POINT.P Matériaux de Construction produces 60 versions of its “Materials” catalog adapted to specific regional requirements, and lists the products in stock and available by sales outlet. 
  • In Sweden, Dahl has included new pages in its catalog to display its products in context, making it easier for its customers to imagine them in their own home.
  • Lapeyre in France emphasizes the services provided at its sales outlets and has adopted a more dynamic layout using interior decoration magazines for inspiration.
  • The La Plateforme du Bâtiment handbook in France facilitates trade professionals’ work by including advice on how to install material together with reminders about standards imposed by energy performance regulations.

When paper catalogs go digital 

The Building Distribution Sector brands must keep up with the play where current trends are concerned, in order to meet their professional and homeowner customers' needs. Increasingly, they are moving towards the digital environment when providing new services, such as the online catalogs published by Jewson, Optimera and Lapeyre.

Another example: POINT.P Matériaux de Construction provides readers of its Déco catalog with various digital tools in addition to its regular products and services. Their paper catalog includes QR codes providing access to about 100 exclusive bonus services. Among others, videos presenting the brand's products, interior simulators and even advice and tips for the selection or installation of materials. These various services can also be accessed directly from the electronic version of the catalog.