A complete overhaul brought sustainable results
Background
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) catalogues are shared with thousands of different organisations across Yorkshire, helping those in education, local authority, emergency services and the public sector to select & order essential supplies quickly and efficiently. These catalogues are a vital tool used every day by key workers who need to appropriately equip their surroundings.
Feedback gathered showed that recipients valued receiving a catalogue but felt they were difficult to browse, and deliveries were inconvenient to receive. The issue was compounded by the fact that multiple bulky catalogues were packed into boxes and couriered to recipients. It was incredibly expensive, inefficient, and environmentally unsustainable.
It was clear to YPO that the way their catalogues were produced and delivered needed to change.
The aim: to modernise the campaign to align with sustainability goals, improve efficiency and deliver a better customer experience.
Solution
YPO engaged Webmart to rebuild their entire catalogue campaign from the ground up.
A detailed analysis of format, pagination, content and fulfilment revealed significant inefficiencies. One key finding was that many pages were unnecessary as they weren’t generating income but were generating carbon emissions. Pagination for the primary school catalogue for example dropped from a huge 1,260pp to 460pp. But this wasn’t about cutting content or pages for the sake of it, this was about taking a data-driven approach to building compelling content that would increase commercial engagement. YPO and Webmart reviewed product performance and customer behaviour to make sure every page stood out. Cutting pages brought the weight of the catalogue under 750g and a spine depth under 25mm. This meant YPO could now mail the catalogues as opposed to courier deliver and could introduce 100% recyclable paper wraps.
Production was switched from web offset to sheetfed printing, enabling greater efficiency, automation, and cost savings. Data cleansing ensured recipients received only the catalogues they needed, avoiding unnecessary duplication. Savings were reinvested to increase mailing volumes by 43%, extending campaign reach. Fulfilment volumes were also deliberately reduced by 26% to better align with demand and minimise waste.
The mailing strategy was transformed too. Rather than a single drop, catalogues were staggered to land in line with key buying periods. Crucially, switching to mail meant the catalogues could now be delivered during school holidays - something that courier deliveries had previously made impossible.
To support transparency, a carbon- neutral logo was added to each catalogue and printed on the paperwrap, helping YPO to communicate their environmental commitment. YPO also included a paragraph about their commitment to sustainable mail within the mailer further demonstrating a desire to educate their customer base.
The finished catalogue was a premium, sustainable product: 269mm x 190mm portrait, 300gsm PEFC cover, 54gsm PEFC text, and a 90gsm uncoated FSC paper wrap. Every element of the campaign was designed to deliver a smarter, more sustainable approach to print marketing.
Results
YPO’s catalogue overhaul delivered significant commercial and environmental impact. By redesigning the format, refining content, switching to sheetfed production, and replacing courier boxes with advertising mail, YPO reduced campaign carbon emissions by 79% – from 490 tonnes in 2024 to just 103 tonnes in 2025. That’s a saving of 387 tonnes, equivalent to driving from London to Sydney and back 30 times!
Far from being about ‘less’, the transformation helped the campaign work harder. Mailing volumes increased from 38,500 in 2024 to 55,000 in 2025, a 43% uplift. Meanwhile, total printed pages dropped from 55.7 million to 18.5 million – a 67% reduction. Fulfilment volumes were reduced by 26% to cut waste.
Carbon emissions for both print and mail elements were calculated using Webmart’s carbon calculator EcoMetrics. Compared to 2024, the implemented changes mitigated a massive 387 tonnes of carbon, with the remaining 103 tonnes offset into a gold-standard accredited scheme.
Despite challenging market conditions, YPO increased market share during peak buying periods and have achieved record-breaking sales. This campaign is ongoing, but online orders have already exceeded previous records, driven by stronger catalogue signposting, better product curation, and increased digital marketing support.
This transformation was not about doing less or cutting costs. It was about securing the future of a vital piece of advertising mail all whilst doing the right thing by our planet.