Hunting for a Solution: Sporting Gear Supplier Chooses Catalog Builder Software

Bishop Distributing is a long time supplier of hunting gear and fishing tackle to retailers across the state of Texas. With their recent acquisition of the Sunbeater company, they added gear for yet another outdoor sport: sun bathing. Sunbeater specializes in beach and pool toys, beachwear, and boating gear. Not only did Bishop Distributing acquire a whole new product line, they also acquired the need to send out high-quality catalogs on a regular basis.

As owner Joe King explained, Bishop Distributing’s sales of fishing tackle and hunting supplies were doing just fine using black and white catalogs with simple product listings and line drawings. Sunbeater customers, on the other hand, were accustomed to thumbing through full color, information-rich catalogs.

Up to this point, the design, printing, and updating of Sunbeater’s catalogs had always been outsourced. But King had other ideas. “I didn’t want to have to pay for updates and depend on another company’s turnaround times,” he explained. So he bought the images, and using Catalog Builder software from Computer Pundits Corporation, he built the 30-page Sunbeater catalog himself.

Catalog Builder is the ideal catalog design and management system for do-it-yourselfers. Its database driven system and dynamically generated, professional looking templates eliminate the need for programming and graphic design. From a single database, product information and images can be output as full-color printed catalogs, PDF files, dynamic CD-ROM catalogs, and even internet stores.

“I’m a big fan of Catalog Builder,” said King when describing the numerous ways in which they’ve taken advantage of the software. The Sunbeater catalog was just the beginning. King used Catalog Builder to generate a web-based catalog to host on the Sunbeater website, plus he produces monthly sales flyers and special summer editions. “Catalog Builder makes it easy to manipulate catalog data and use it in so many ways,” explained King.

That’s why he decided to use Catalog Builder to produce a hunting catalog as well. Bishop Distributing quickly discovered what a difference professional quality, full-color catalogs can make on customer perception. “Our loyal, repeat customers would look at the new catalog and say, ‘Wow, you’ve added a lot of new products’, when in reality those same products had been in our old black and white catalog all along!” King can’t say for sure whether the new catalog has positively affected sales, but he says it’s a pretty safe assumption. Bishop Distributing’s sales are up in spite of the down economy.

King plans to tackle the fishing product line next, so subsequent versions of Bishop Distributing’s catalog will include all of the hunting and fishing gear that the company supplies. Further down the road, King wants to add e-commerce capabilities so that the company can sell retail and wholesale over the internet. Catalog Builder’s companion product, eCommerce 21, provides an ecommerce store front with shopping cart capabilities, content management, and store management, plus it integrates with inventory management and accounting systems.

That's the beauty of Catalog Builder. Because of its scaled pricing and modular technology, its never too big or too small for any size business. As Bishop Distributing continues to grow and evolve, Catalog Builder will expand and evolve right along with them.