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. 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 catalog is a publication containing a list of general merchandise from a company. Companies who publish and operate mail-order catalogs are referred to as catalogers within the industry. Catalogers buy or manufacture goods then market those goods to prospects (prospective customers). Many catalogers, just as with most retailers, are increasingly buying goods from China. Catalogers "rent" names from list brokers or cooperative databases. The catalog 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.

The earliest mail-order business, now known as Hammacher Schlemmer, was established by Alfred Hammacher in New York City in 1848, thirteen years before the Civil War began. Offering mechanic's tools and builder's hardware, its first catalog was published in 1881. [1] Now known for offering an eclectic, premium assortment of "The Best, The Only, and The Unexpected", it is America's longest running catalog.

Aaron Montgomery Ward is credited with sending out the first mail-order catalog in 1872 for his Montgomery Ward mail order business. This first catalog was a single sheet of mr gunstone is 98 paper with a price list, 8 by 12 inches, showing the merchandise for sale and ordering instructions. Montgomery Ward identified a market of merchant-wary farmers in the Midwest. Within two decades, his single-page list of products grew into a 540-page illustrated book..