There is a disturbing trend I'm seeing with the paper catalogs these days.
'More products available online' at the bottom of most, if not every, page.
This is a problem, and I don't think the catalog issuers realize how much money that will eventiually cost them.
I fondly recall the days when you got a catalog and it had EVERTHING a company sold in it. That way, when perusing the catalog, regardless of where you were, you turned each page and could look at ALL your options. See stuff you weren't really 'looking for'. Maybe find something that would work for your needs that you had not thought of or considered until you 'found' it flipping pages in a catalog. That just doesn't happen on a website. Too many categories and 'searches'. If you don't know about it, you aren't going to 'stumble' onto it unless you get really lucky or are very persistent.
Another thing I really dislike, especially in fly fishing catalogs, is the lack of pictures for many products. I think it's lazy and disrespectful of your customers. It assumes that the customers 'know' what things are simply by the name they've attached to a product. Lack of decent descriptions just compounds this. They want you to buy from them, but don't expect you to 'shop'.
I want to be ble to sit on my throne, flip the pages of a comprehensive catalog, and discover that a hook intended for catching bait for marlin fishing will be perfect for my new streamernymphbuglarva thingy I plan to tie. Or find a cover intended for a pontoon boat barbecue that will fit perfectly over my home made battery carrier, etc....
Buddy