The mail order business may be at least a 100 years old but it continues to flourish. The reason for this is simple: customer convenience. Even today most customers would like to order a product from the convenience of their home instead of driving down to crowded malls, brushing shoulders with shoppers and struggling to find parking space. According to Direct Mail Association, over 125 million Americans order products by mail or phone every year. This is a number that should make all entrepreneurs to sit up and take notice.

Kinds of mail order: The mail order business evolved as direct mail that was sent to the homes of customers. This mail included sales letters, brochures, fliers, postcards etc to help a customer make a decision. After the arrival of radio and television the mail order business acquired a telemarketing form. However, the message and the way of doing business remained the same. Now, the mail order business has moved to the net because customers find shopping on the net the most convenient way of buying goods. The mail order companies too have realized the value of the net, and use digital methods to sell their products.

This, in turn, has also added to the competition. There’s more competition today than ever before because the Internet has increased the number and variety of players in the industry, and the speed at which they can service customers.

How to start: The mail order business is not difficult to start. It needs no special skills or training, only a desire to succeed. You can start mail order business as a part-time option or as a full-time venture. However, it is always advisable to start part-time so that you learn the ropes as you grow. The biggest plus point of this business is that you don’t need to maintain an inventory as products can be mailed directly from the manufacturer/wholesaler to the customer. All that you are required to do is to pass on the order through mail, telephone, fax or e-mail to the manufacturer, who, in turn, will arrange to supply the product. You can walk off with your commission for achieving the sale. A good strategy is to start with a single product, and to continue to add products as the list of your customers grows. The only products that you must avoid are perishable products. They don’t work in this kind of business.

Earnings: Much of the success of the mail order business depends on the fact that the customer gets to buy goods at handsome discounts. The mail order companies were able to offer big discounts because they had cut out the middleman, and were supplying goods directly to the customer. Also, they were selling their products in large numbers. This enabled them to quote lower costs. You too can do the same if you can latch on to the right companies, and the right products.

Challenges: The main challenge in the mail order business is to find customers. You do not know who are your potential customers, where they live or what products they buy. So, how do you attract them? You may advertise about your mail order business but before doing so you should carefully analyze the product appeal. There’s no point in selling snowshoes to New Yorkers during summer. A better product would be sneakers, which is worn round the year. The timing would be even better if you send out your mailers during the basketball season. You can be sure to get a response, if you have chosen a sneaker that is bright and colorful, is being worn by basketball stars and is affordable.

You shouldn’t panic if your sales pitch fails to get you a good response. You must remember that a 2% response rate is considered good in mail order business. If you get a response that is more than this, then you can be sure you have found both your product and your customer. Now, you only need to build on it.