Let us suppose there is an order on 20 different departments scheduled for shipment at io A.M. Expert typists have drawn off on 20 separate sheets the orders for each of the zo departments involved. These sheets are sent by pneumatic tubes to the depart ments, where trained stock men and order fillers take them in hand. Carefully checked and rechecked to avoid mistakes, the merchandise goes by chutes, endless belt conveyors and other mechanical devices to that part of the shipping room designated. From all 20 departments it arrives there by io A.m.—not more than 20 minutes before—not one minute after. Everywhere is system, precision, intelligently applied energy. There is little room for lost motion anywhere. There are no idle clerks wait ing for customers, nor taking time to explain, describe or sell. Thus, throughout the entire system—buying, handling, shipping— substantial savings are made of time and money. And these are reflected in the low retail prices found in the catalogue.
tative figures as to the aggregate amount of business done by mail in the United States is available, but the magnitude of the busi ness may be seen in some degree from the fact that one mail order house alone, Sears, Roebuck and Company, for the year 1937 served approximately I i,000,000 families who purchased nearly 48,000,000 separate orders. This volume, handled swiftly and smoothly by the company's efficient schedule system, was moved through large plants located in to metropolitan centres of the United States. Making proper allowance for duplications in names (two or more customers in one family), which it is not always possible to avoid, a conservative estimate places the number of people in the United States buying from this one organization alone at probably one-third the entire population.
From the magnitude of the industry and its steady growth, it is evident that the mail-order business is a vital factor in the commercial life of the nation and one which is each year playing a more important part.