Mail order is a term which describes the
buying of
goods or
services by
mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or
web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer. The products are typically delivered directly to an address supplied by the customer, such as a home address, but occasionally the orders are delivered to a nearby
retail location for the customer to pick up. Some merchants also allow the goods to be shipped directly to a third party consumer, which is an effective way to send a gift to an out-of-town recipient.
A
mail order catalogue is a publication containing a list of general
merchandise from a company. Companies who publish and operate mail order catalogues are referred to as cataloguers within the industry. Cataloguers buy or manufacture goods then market those goods to prospects (prospective customers). Many cataloguers, just as with most
retailers, are increasingly buying goods from
China. Cataloguers "rent" names from
list brokers or
cooperative databases. The catalogue itself is published in a similar fashion as any magazine publication and distributed through a variety of means, usually via a
postal service and the internet.
Sometimes supermarket products do mail order promotions, whereby people can send in the
UPC plus shipping and handling to get a product made especially for the company.
Few things are not available through mail order.