Specialty mail order vendors reap a significantly greater share of consumer mail order product sales than do general merchandising mail order vendors. Mail order sales of Christmas gifts have siphoned off sales from traditional retailers. In 1990, the ratio was 5.4 percent. It grew significantly in 1992 to 6.9 percent and in 1995 the ratio reached 7.6 percent. Total employment in the catalog industry in 1996 was estimated to be 389,000 workers, having grown from 377,000 in 1995 and projected to exceed 445,000 by year 2001.
Retailers use their catalog concentrations to assist in siting new locations.
Catalogs and stores have launched web sites. As advances continue to be made in information and electronic technologies, innovative catalogs will be used in the new media and new ways to reach both consumers and businesses will be developed. Catalog retailers are aware of the factors that have contributed to the growth in catalog shopping, including an increase in the number of female workers and a growing use of credit cards. The crossover of traditional retailers into nonstore mediums is expected to continue as retailers take advantage of the fact that consumers are pressed for time and are not loyal to only one form of shopping. Retail Industry Adds 98,000 Nonmetro Jobs Annually During 1988-93, Rural Conditions and Trends .