May 5, 2001
By Arthur Middleton Hughes Despite the downturn in the stock market, catalogs today are flourishing and have become the most successful direct marketing vehicles ever invented. Why is this so? Lightning fast fulfillment. Remember "allow six to eight weeks for delivery?" Who can stay in business today saying that? Many catalogers today even offer next-day service. That means that they have had to streamline their warehouses, with UPS and FedEx trucks constantly backed up to their doors. Massive exchange of names. North America is about the only place in the world where you can rent names of mail order buyers. Almost everywhere
