Don’t just know your customers, understand them.

The Sears Catalog was the Amazon of its time.

The Sears Catalog was the Amazon of its time.

In the US from around the 1890s, you could order almost anything you wanted — including underwear, watches and even build-it-yourself “kit” houses — from the Sears mailorder catalogue.

It had an incredible range of products primarily targeted at families living outside of cities or large towns. It gained prominence during The Great Depression.

The Sears team at the time didn’t just know who their customers were and what they wanted to buy. They understood them.

This understanding culminated in Sears making their catalogue shorter and thinner than the Montgomery Ward Catalog — their biggest competitor.

Sears understood the cleaning habits of homemakers and realised that smaller books are stacked on top. Insight and in-mind.

This smart design trick ensured that the Sears Catalog would always be grabbed first when a family wanted to order something.

If you understand your customer better than your competitors understand them, you will find ways to stay on top.