The shipping or delivery department is the busiest in the entire establishment; the details are so many that only with the most perfect system can the work be handled. The delivery system of one of the big stores is a revelation to most men; and when our purchase, which is but one of thousands made in an hour, is delivered at our door, five or ten miles away, two to five hours later, we marvel at the perfect working of an apparently complex machine. And yet, when we study it, we discover that the controlling factor of this vast system is its simplicity. Less confusion is found, and fewer mistakes are made, in the delivery department of the largest stores in the world than by the delivery boy of your corner grocer; and simple system--method--at every step from the sale to the final delivery is responsible. While not really complicated, the system of a big store is built to care for many more details than are met with in the smaller store. Since a vast majority of retail establishments are in the latter class, this discussion is confined to the needs of a store of average size. _Average size_ is a relative term. A store of average size in one community would be considered as a big store in another. In a large city, leading stores dealing in exclusive lines--such as clothing, shoes, or cloaks and suits--answer the description, and it is the needs of such a store that are discussed herein. A system adapted to the needs of a store of this class, can easily be expanded for a department store or modified for a smaller establishment. =Delivery Tag.= A delivery system starts, not in the shipping room, but when the sale is made. The very first requisite is a correct address, and the securing of the address rests with the sales person. Unless every necessary precaution to insure accuracy at this point is taken, the further provisions of the system are without avail. [Illustration: Fig. 19. Label with Colored Border to Indicate Routing] The first step, then, is for the sales person to write the label or tag that is to be attached to the package. It should not be left for another to write the final delivery ticket; this should invariably be done by the sales person, who then becomes responsible for the address. In some small stores, the duplicate sales ticket is made to do service as a delivery ticket, but it is much the safer plan to use a separate tag or label for this purpose. The address on the duplicate sales ticket is quite likely to be illegible, and to provide for all details needed for delivery necessitates a larger ticket than otherwise would be used.