Aaron Montgomery Ward was an American entrepreneur based in Chicago who made his fortune through the use of mail order for retail sales of general merchandise to rural customers. In 1872 he founded Montgomery Ward & Company, which became nationally known.

Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:Sending an order form in the mail Placing a telephone call Placing an order with a few travelling agents and paying by installments Filling in a form on a website or mobile app — if the product information is also mainly obtained online rather than via a paper catalogue or via television, this model is online shopping or e-commerce