[thelist] online forms and layout

[Bird]

Hi,
I have only ever set up forms on sites where the form processing is done
by a cgi script located at the host server. 
The form may look all nice and laid out in columns on the site but the
client only receives the information as an email in one long list.
e.g.:
name: Lisa
phone: 123456789
country: Singapore
message: test message
Submit: send enquiry to Koolfish

Is this the only way that the information can be received or what I
would like to know is, is it possible to retain the layout of columns
like the way the data is displayed on the website?

If it is possible to alter the look of the email that the client
receives, what terms should I be googling for for more information on
how to do this?

Thanks

Lisa