THE RISE OF THE MAIL-ORDER HOUSE 1. Significance of the mail-order movement.—Sell ing by mail has developed to such an extent that it af fects everybody who has anything to do with buying and selling. To the consumer it means the oppor tunity to buy Ulm new channels, which, either because of their novelty or because of real merit, are often more attractive than the old. It has opened to the country dweller larger selections of merchandise than have heretofore been available. The claim is made that buying by mail often means lower prices. The mail-order catalogs have in many instances created new wants and new methods of satisfying them. To the extent that the mail-order movement means a re alignment of small-town retailing, the eliminating of some stores, and the changing of the functions and methods of others, with the many possible effects on rural communities, it is something. of vital importance to every consumer and to every thoughtful student of marketing.
2. Effect On retailers.—The retailer sees in mail order houses a new and strong competition. He fre quently finds that they have created neNv wants on the part of consumers, which it is his duty and his oppor tunity to attempt to satisfy. He often sees, or he thinks he sees, in the mail-order establishments menace to his continued prosperity and even to his continued existence.
3. Effect on jobbers.—Jobbers are affected in many ways by mail-order selling. Many mail-order houses buy direct from the manufacturer, and thus lessen the flow of goods thru the jobbers' warehouses. The catalog houses reduce the trade of the relatively small dealers in country communities. These dealers are the mainstay of the jobbing business, and a de crease in their trade means less trade for tbe jobbers.
4. Effect on manufacturers.—Many catalog houses manufacture part of the goods they sell and thus compete directly with the manufacturers. The cata log houses are also charged with being price-cutters and frequently with being antagonistic to nationally advertised and trade-marked goods. As far as this is the case they reap the opposition of the manufac turer. The lessening of consumption thru established
retail channels affects the manufacturer in the same way that it affects the jobber. On the other hand, many manufacturers see in the catalog house a new market for an exceedingly large amount of all varie ties of merchandise.
5. Attitude of the public.—Public opinion toward mail-order houses varies in its expression from cordial support to hysterical abuse. Much has been said and much has been written about them, but a great deal of it emanates from interested sources. A study of marketing methods requires a dispassionate consider ation of selling by mail, with particular reference to the following questions : What is its extent? What is its nature? Is it legitimate? What is its competi tive strength? How can the local store compete? How can the manufacturer use it to his own best ad vantage ? 6. Extent of mail sales.—The approximate total sales of ten of the leading mail-order houses in 1915 were $350,000,000. To this total Sears, Roebuck and Company alone contributed over $100,000,000, and Montgomery Ward and Company about $50, 900,000. These figures are approached by the sales of such well-known houses as the National Cloak and Suit Company, the Standard Mail Order Company, Charles William Stores, and the Larkin Company. Various estimates indicate that anywhere from three to fifteen per cent of all commodities in the United States reach the ultimate consumer thru mail-or der channels. The actual figure is probably much nearer the former than the latter of these estimates. By adding together the sales of the .relatively few nationally known catalog houses, the thousands of smaller local mail-order establishments, the direct sell ing manufacturers, and the mail sales of the thousands of retail stores that encourage ordering by post, we should have a figure that would certainly run well over half a billion dollars a year. The enormous size of the sum demands careful consideration of the so-called mail-order problem, even if mail sales were less than the common estimate of three per cent of all com modity sales.