An Analysis of the Catalog Merchandise Industry

Author

Sansaneeya Prachakvej, Fontbonne College

Year of Award

1994

Degree

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

College

College of Business & Professional Studies

Degree Program

Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

Keywords

mail order, marketing, purchasing, sales

Abstract

This thesis presents a brief overview of the catalog industry. Its major premise is that catalog merchandising is a business environment characterized by a vastly expanding demand within a market that is cost-efficient, convenient and less time consuming. With new technology allowing faster communication over the world, people's lifestyles have changed dramatically. People need to be able to spend less time buying goods so they can make more efficient use of the time when they are not working. These needs have given rise to the increased use of catalog marketing. Buying merchandise through catalogs makes a lot of sense for today's consumer. As a result of ordering products through the mail, the consumer is able to devote less time and effort to buying goods, and will further be able to make these purchases at a lower cost, and more conveniently. The paper is divided into six parts with nine chapters. Each part addresses an area that must be discussed in order to understand the overall structure of the catalog industry. Part One is an overview of the catalog industry, and discusses the objectives and scope of this study. It deals in addition with the major trends in the industry. Part Two is the study of system processing in the catalog industry as well as merchandising, production processing, back end processing and mailing list control. Part Three concerns the legal issues that affect the industry. Part Four is an evaluation of the potential of catalog marketing along with a consideration of its benefits and risks. It also looks at marketing strategies and the international market. Part Five will address the industry's perception of new technologies and their implementation. The last part contains the conclusion and a forecast for the industry.

Document Type

Restricted Thesis

Recommended Citation

Prachakvej, Sansaneeya, "An Analysis of the Catalog Merchandise Industry" (1994). All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects. 211.
https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/all-etds/211