- A mail order catalog business begins with the product to be sold, which is housed either in the catalog business' warehouse facilities or at a separately owned distribution point. Many mail order catalog businesses do not warehouse their own products, but find it simpler and more cost-effective to order directly from the product manufacturers. However, sometimes direct order is not possible, in which case the catalog business needs to have adequate warehouse space for the products and also needs to make an accurate estimate of how many items per product will be needed for the season.
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the catalog business has determined which products to sell, attention turns to the creation of the catalog. Most catalogs consist of a photo of the item, a brief description and then pertinent options such as size, color, packaging, price, weight, shipping details and item number. Somewhere in the catalog there should also be ordering information, which includes an order form, a toll-free number to call for telephone orders and often a website address for Internet orders.
Additionally, most mail order catalog businesses have Internet catalogs, which are frequently updated with new products, special deals, close-outs and other purchasing options which may not be available via the print catalog. The Internet site and catalog must be updated frequently to be sure that product availability, pricing and options are accurate, and to keep customers returning for the newest thing available on the website. - Once the catalogs are set up and the website is up and running, the catalog business can start receiving orders via mail, telephone and the Internet. Some orders will be simple and will require only minimal processing, which involves entering the order into the company's computer system, receiving payment and sending the order to the order fulfillment department. Other orders might be more complex and involve specific customer service issues, bulk orders or request for back-ordered items.
- Once the orders are placed and processed, the order fulfillment department receives the orders. It retrieves the necessary products either from the company warehouse or from other points of distribution, packages them, prints and encloses an invoice, and mails the items to the customer.
