If you’ve noticed an influx of print catalogs in your mailbox, you’re not alone.

Companies like J.Crew and even digital-first Amazon have brought back their print catalogs, albeit with tweaks to reach younger generations of shoppers who are accustomed to doing these things on their phones. The results are promising and could be enough to influence others in the space to fire up the printing presses or, more realistically, call up their local print supplier and start placing orders.

While originally reported by ASI Media’s Hannah Rosenberger, the resurgence of print catalogs caught the attention of the Today Show, which devoted a segment to the trending topic on Oct. 30.

NBC’s Emilie Ikeda spoke with Dan Brown, ASI’s vice president of distributor services, to dig deeper into why companies like Patagonia and J.Crew are investing in print once again – and how they’ve adapted the design of the catalog for 21^st-century marketing.

“They’re more interest drivers,” Brown said. “They’re not just order takers.”

What Brown meant is that the catalogs of today are more than just a picture with a SKU number and a number to call and order. They’re more of a lookbook and expanded brand universe, with actual articles and more artistic photographs than just a well-lit item floating in white space.

Brown noted that now the photos include a model wearing or using the product, inspiring the viewer the same way a high-end fashion magazine might.

One of the key differences is the use of QR codes, which has gained ubiquity following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ikeda, looking through the catalog on the air with the rest of the show’s co-anchors, noted that “you won’t find a single price tag in this,” but rather a QR code that shoppers can scan to go to the website.

“They’re really just trying to use the catalog to wet your whistle, to build some interest to drive you to their website,” Brown said.

It works, too, as the Today Show cited a Harvard Business Review study that found a 125% jump in inquiries from customers who received both email and catalog marketing, showing how both digital and tactile tactics like direct mail can coexist and complement each other.

Ikeda reported that J.Crew alone has noticed a rise in “reactivated customers” – people who had stopped shopping at the company but came back as a result of renewed interest from the catalog.

Pointing out one key benefit that print provides over digital, co-host Savannah Guthrie joked that when you circle something in a print catalog, it doesn’t “stalk you all over the internet” like some items seem to do thanks to user data.