As consumer-buying power widens, so are shopping options. Included in those ioptions are mail order catalogs. Started by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872, this line of shopping has brought millions of products to many consumers who prefer to shop at home. As a travelling sales man, Aaron Ward realized that his rural customers, the fishermen and farmers could be better served by mail order. This innovation proved to be a revolutionary idea as the single paged catalog expanded to 540 paged illustrated publications selling over 20,000 products. The publication of this catalog bears similar resemblance to the publication of magazines and is also distributed usually via postal service or via the Internet.

As mentioned earlier, the first mail order catalog created by Aaron Montgomery Ward. It was a single sheet of paper containing certain products and their corresponding prices. Ordering instructions were also written on this sheet of paper. This catalog eventually expanded with more merchandises to choose from. Soon the Eatons Department store in Toronto, Canada followed this booming business in 1884. A decade later, the Sears Catalog was published.

One advantage of shopping from mail order catalogs is that consumers are guaranteed that the products are much cheaper compared to those sold in a regular department store. It is probably because merchants are not typically required by law to add taxes on their products. This eliminates miscellaneous expenses charged by the merchant, the government and the supplier.

With the discovery of the Internet, several companies have created their own website and list a vast number of catalogs for each product line. This is now referred to as E-Commerce or online shopping.