What It Is
An email forwarder is a rule that says "anything sent to this address, pass it along to that one." For example, sales@yourbusiness.com might forward to your personal Gmail or to a colleague’s mailbox. It is like a mail-forwarding order at the post office. The forwarder itself usually has no inbox or password, it simply redirects what arrives.
Why It Matters for Your Business
Forwarders are a cheap and simple way to look professional. A solo tennis coach can advertise lessons@theirdomain.com and have every message land in the inbox they already check, without paying for a separate mailbox. They are also handy for sending a general address, like orders@, to several people at once so nobody misses a new order.
Good to Know
Forwarding has a catch. Replies come from the inbox you forwarded to, so customers may see your personal address unless you set up "send as" with proper authentication. Forwarded messages can also fail SPF checks and land in spam, and forwarding spam can hurt your domain’s reputation. For anything important, a real mailbox or an alias within the same provider is usually more reliable.