Types Of Catalog

What's the most important thing you need to know about the products sold in a catalog? The answer is–what kind of catalog! There are many different types of catalogs, each with its own purpose and design.

Here are some of the more common types of catalogs. 

__E-catalog: This type of catalogue is an electronic version that can be accessed on any web browser and viewed in any size, as long as there's enough screen resolution. 

__Catalogue: This is a paper catalogue; while it was once the most common type, this has become increasingly rare with e-catalogues taking over. An advantage to a paper catalogue is that it can be viewed real-time, but it also has the disadvantage of being very expensive and difficult to maintain.

__Employees Only Catalogue: This type of catalogue is designed for employees, with information regarding company policies and benefits.

__Real Merchandise Catalogue: The "real merchandise" in this case is the things sold in the store; these are typically things like clothes, food, jewelry and electronics. They're not just catalogues; they're stores as well!

__Special Edition Catalogue: These are edited or customized versions of regular catalogues with various themes; some examples include limited-edition products and themed costumes. 

__Classified: These catalogues contain classified ads regarding both products and services. The classified ad is one of the oldest forms of advertising, but it's still lucrative, especially now that online shopping is so big. 

__Order Form: This type of catalogue is the closest to a paper version of an e-catalogue; an order form consists of various pages with blank spaces for customers to fill in their personal information and cart information, along with optional pages for checking out or signing up for email newsletters.

__Pop-Up: This type of catalogue utilizes pop-ups after every few pages to advertise other products on the site. 

__Window: This type of catalogue consists mostly of pop-ups, with just a few product pages displaying the actual products. 

__Catalogue on Website: These catalogues are mainly websites; they act like business- or store-oriented catalogues with different departments and shopping carts that are mandatory for purchasing.

__Catalogue for Businesses: These catalogues are sold directly to businesses, as opposed to customers; they're used by companies to advertise their products and services. Most businesses have their own websites these days, but there's still an advantage to having a catalogue like this one since it can be more easily printed out than a website can.

__Catalogue for e-Commerce: These catalogues are designed specifically for selling online. They're typically very simple and easy to use, with one main purpose–to sell products. __Product Catalogue: These catalogues focus on the actual products, with photographs and information about the respective items. They usually don't contain shopping carts or any other e-commerce features; they just act as a means to display product information.

__Catalog of Products: This type of catalogue doesn't focus on any specific products; instead, it serves as an overview of various products that can be browsed through separately by department (e.g., clothing, beauty products). 

__Catalog of Services: This type of catalogue doesn't focus on any specific services; instead, it serves as an overview of various services that can be browsed through separately by category (e.g., car repair, insurance).

__Catalogue for Customer Support: This type of catalogue is used for customer service or support; it contains information about products and how to use them as well as customer reviews and feedback. 

__Catalogue for Business Information: These catalogues are aimed at businesses rather than customers; they're typically informational in nature and include information regarding policies, procedures, quick facts and more. 

__Catalogue for Education: These catalogues are aimed at educating people about new products or services, with information that's applicable to all kinds of different areas (e.g., computers, construction, entertainment).

__Catalogue for Culture: These catalogues are aimed at promoting a specific culture; they're usually national in nature and concentrate on one or two specific aspects of the culture (e.g., "traditional" Chinese porcelain, American baseball). 

__Catalogue to Promote Singles' Club: This type of catalogue is aimed at getting people to join singles' clubs through the use of incentives.

__Catalogue for Marketing: These catalogues are simply marketing materials with information about products, promotional events and special services.

__Catalogue for Press/Advertising: These catalogues are primarily used to market or promote products and services, but they also give background information about a company. 

__Catalog for Paying Customers: These catalogues are aimed at paying customers; they include information regarding payment options and purchase codes.

__Catalogue for Students: This type of catalogue is aimed at students, with information regarding course schedules, websites, etc.

__Catalog for Teens: This type of catalogue is aimed at teenagers; in addition to general school-related information, it may contain specific product info like student discounts or coupons. 

__Catalogue for Outsourcing: These catalogues are aimed at overseas clients; they are used to promote international services and products.

__Catalogue for Online Shopping: These catalogues are designed specifically for online shopping. They're usually very simple and easy to use, with one main purpose—to sell products. __Catalogue for International Markets: This type of catalogue is aimed at customers located in other countries; it includes information about local products, customs and regulations as well as payment options. These types of catalogues can be quite large, so each sub-type is listed separately.

__Catalogue for Overseas Shopping: These catalogues are designed specifically for online shopping. They're usually very simple and easy to use, with one main purpose—to sell products.

__Catalogue for Documents: This type of catalogue contains documents (like passports or driver's licenses) instead of products or services; the documents are displayed in sequential order along with various other information (e.g., contact information, addresses).

__Catalogue for Traveling Abroad: These catalogues are directed towards tourists traveling abroad and includes information about passports, visas and customs as well as currency exchange rates and international driving licenses. 

__Catalogue for International Relations: These catalogues are aimed at promoting different cultures, customs and regulations to other countries. They usually contain travel-related information (e.g., visas, passports).

__Catalogue for International Business: These catalogues are aimed at international businesses, with information about import/export procedures and regulations as well as payment options. 

__Catalogue for International Health Issues: These catalogues are mostly informational; they focus on health issues and offer advice in several different areas (e.g., dental care, food poisoning).

Conclusion: The diversity of catalogues listed here shows just how varied they can be. Catalogues can double as a means to market or promote products and services; they can also be used as reference guides, tools or help desk systems, booklets that help people keep track of important information and even a way to make a living.

What are your thoughts on these kinds of catalogues? Do you own any at home? Are there any types of catalogues in particular that you find fascinating? Let us know in the comments section! 

The Catalog Archive – A collection of various e-catalogues (including descriptions and images) from around the world.

Catalog Archive – A collection of various catalogues from around the world.