According to Aaron Montgomery Ward, what had inflated prices for consumers in the past?
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Answer:
the first mail order catalog in 1872. His use of installment payments made it much easier for modest-income families to buy expensive items. The downside? Consumer debt. Ward’s business had social implications too, such as catering to Southern blacks who were shut out of whites-only stores and created a consumer culture in rural America. Ward was able to persuade his customers to take an enormous leap of faith: Fork over cash for products that they had only seen pictured in his catalog. He gained their trust by using guarantees, providing exceptional customer service and writing catalogs with clever, catchy sales pitches. Ward’s trustworthiness allowed his product offerings to grow from 163 items to 10,000 in less than 10 years. In essence, Ward’s business laid the groundwork for companies such as Amazon , Hotels.com and The Home Shopping Network .
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