Retail

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Retailing consists of the sales of goods or merchandise, from a fixed location such as a department store or kiosk, in small or individual lots for direct consumption (economics) by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a retailer buys goods or product (business) in large quantities from manufacturers or importers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the end-user. Retail establishments are often called shops or stores. Retailers are at the end of the supply chain. Manufacturing Marketing see the process of retailing as a necessary part of their overall distribution (business) strategy.

Shops may be on residential streets, shopping streets with few or no houses, or in a shopping center or mall, but are mostly found in the Central business district. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation (meteorology). Retailers often provided boardwalks in front of their stores to protect customers from the mud. Online retailing, also known as e-commerce is the latest form of non-shop retailing (cf. mail order).

Shopping generally refers to the act of trade products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

Most retailers have employees learn facing, a Hyperreality tool used to create the look of a perfectly-stocked store even when it is not.

Retail pricing The pricing technique used by most retailers is cost-plus pricing. This involves adding a markup (business) amount (or percentage) to the retailers cost. Another common technique is suggested retail price. This simply involves charging the amount suggested by the manufacturer and usually printed on the product (business) by the manufacturer.

In Western countries, retail prices are often so-called psychological pricings or odd prices: a little less than a round number, e.g. $6.95. In Chinese societies, prices are generally either a round number or sometimes a lucky number. This creates price points.

Often prices are fixed and displayed on signs or labels. Alternatively, there can be price discrimination for a variety of reasons, where the retailer charges higher prices to some customers and lower prices to others. For example, a customer may have to pay more if the seller determines that he or she is willing to. The retailer may conclude this due to the customer's wealth, carelessness, lack of knowledge, or eagerness to buy. Another example is the practice of discounting for youths or students. Price discrimination can lead to a bargaining situation often called haggling, in which the parties negotiation about the price. Economists see this as determining how the transaction's total surplus will be divided into consumer and producer surplus. Neither party has a clear advantage, because of the threat of no sale, in which case the surplus vanishes for both.

Retailers who are overstocked, or need to raise cash to renew stocks may resort to "Sales", where prices are "marked down", often by advertised percentages - "50% off" for example."Sales" are often held at fixed times of the year, for example January sales, or end-of-season sales, or Blue Cross Sale

Retail Industry Retail Industry has brought in phenomenal changes in the whole process of production, distribution and consumption of Consumer Goods all over the world. In the present world most of the developed economies are using the Retail Industry as their vital growth instrument. At present, among all the industries of U.S.A the Retail Industry holds the second place in terms of Employment Generation. In fact, the strength of the Retail Industry lies in its ability to generate large volume of employment.

Not only U.S but also the other developed countries like U.K, Canada, France, Germany are experiencing tremendous growth in their Retail Sectors. This boom in the Global Retail Industry was in many ways accelerated by the Liberalization of Retail Sector.

Observing this global upward trend of Retail Industry, now the developing countries like India are also planning to tap the enormous potential of the retail sector. Wal-Mart,the world's largest Retailer has been invited to India. Other popular Brands like Pantaloons, Big Bazar, Archies are rapidly increasing their market share in the retail sector. According to a survey, within 5 years, the Indian Retail Industry is expected to generate 10 to 15 million jobs by direct and indirect effects. This huge employment generation can be possible because of the fact that being dependent on the the Retail Sector shares a lot of Forward and Backward Linkages.

Emergence of a strong Retail Sector can contribute immensely to the economic development of any country. With a dominant retail sector, the farmers and other suppliers can sell their produce directly to the major retail companies and can ensure stable profit. On the other hand, to ensure steady supply of goods, the Retail Companies can inject cash into the production system. This whole process can result into a more efficient production and distribution system for the economy as a whole.

Etymology Retail comes from the French word retaillier which refers to "cutting off, clip and divide" in terms of tailoring (1365). It first was recorded as a noun with the meaning of a "sale in small quantities" in 1433 (French). Its literal meaning for retail was to "cut off, shred, paring". Like the French, the word retail in both Dutch and German (detailhandel and Einzelhandel respectively) also refer to sale of small quantities or items.

Retail types According to Amit Mittal there are three major types of retailing. The first is the market, a physical location where buyers and sellers converge. Usually this is done in town squares, sidewalks or designated streets and may involve the construction of temporary structures (market stalls). The second form is shop or store trading. Some shops use counter-service, where goods are out of reach of buyers, and must be obtained from the seller. This type of retail is common for small expensive items (e.g. jewelry) and controlled items like medicine and liquor. Self-service, where goods may be handled and examined prior to purchase, has become more common since the Twentieth Century. A third form of retail is virtual retail, where products are ordered via mail, telephone or online without having been examined physically but instead in a catalog, on television or on a website. Sometimes this kind of retailing replicates existing retail types such as online shops or virtual marketplaces such as futurebazaar.com or amazon.com.O'Brien, Larry and Frank Harris (1991) Retailing: shopping, society, space, David Fulton Publishers, London.

Buildings for retail have changed considerably over time. Market halls were constructed in the Middle Ages, which were essentially just covered marketplaces. The first shops in the modern sense used to deal with just one type of article, and usually adjoined the producer (baker, tailor, cobbler). In the nineteenth century, in France, arcade (architecture)s were invented, which were a street of several different shops, roofed over. counters, each dealing with a different kind of article was invented; it was called a department store. One of the novelties of the department store was the introduction of fixed prices, making haggling unnecessary, and browsing more enjoyable. This is commonly considered the birth of consumerism Chung, Chuihua Judy (ed.) (2001) Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping, Taschen, Köln. In cities, these were multi-story buildings which pioneered the escalator.

In the 1920s the first supermarket opened in the United States, heralding in a new era of retail: self-service. Around the same time the first shopping mall was constructed Borking, Seline (1998) The Fascinating History of Shopping Malls, MAB Groep BV, The Hague which incorporated elements from both the arcade and the department store. A mall consists of several department stores linked by arcades (many of whose shops are owned by the same firm under different names). The design was perfected by the Austrian architecht Victor GruenHardwick, Jeffrey (2004) Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia..All the stores rent their space from the mall owner. By mid-century, most of these were being developed as single enclosed, climate-controlled, projects in suburban areas. The mall has had a considerable impact on the retail structure and urban development in the United States. Kowinski, William Severini (2002) The Malling of America: travels in the United States of Shopping, Xlibris Corporstion.

In addition to the enclosed malls, there are also strip malls which are 'outside' malls (in Britain they are called retail parks. These are often connected to supermarkets or discount department stores. Also, in high traffic areas, other businesses may lease space from the supermarket or big box store to sell their goods or services from. A recent development is a very large shop called a superstore. These are sometimes located as stand-alone outlets, but more commonly are part of a strip mall or retail park.

Local shops can be known as bricks and mortar business stores in the United States. Many shops are part of a business chain: a number of similar shops with the same name selling the same products in different locations. The shops may be owned by one company, or there may be a franchising company that has franchising agreements with the shop owners (see also restaurant chain).

Some shops sell second-hand goods. Often the public can also sell goods to such shops, sometimes called 'pawn' shops. In other cases, especially in the case of a nonprofit shop, the public donates goods to the shop to be sold (see also thrift store). In give-away shops goods can be taken for free.

There are also 'consignment' shops, which is where a person can place an item in a store, and if it sells the person gives the shop owner a percentage of the sale price. The advantage of selling an item this way is that the established shop give the item exposure to more potential buyers.

The term retailer is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as with telephone or electric power.

See also

Facing
Store manager
Supermarket
Variety store
Retail design

Notes

References

O'Brien, Larry and Harris, Frank Retailing: Shopping, Society, Space David Fulton Publishers, London, ISBN 1853461229 ;
Chung, Chuihua Judy (ed.) Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping Taschen, Köln, ISBN 3822860476 ;
Borking, Seline The Fascinating History of Shopping Malls MAB Groep BV, The Hague, ISBN 9080183423 ;
Hardwick, M. Jeffrey (2004) Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, ISBN 0812237625 ;
Kowinski, William Severini (2002) The Malling of America: travels in the United States of Shopping (2nd ed.) Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 1401036767 ;
Krafft, Manfred and Mantrala, Murali K. (eds.) (2006) Retailing in the 21st century: current and future trends Springer Verlag, New York, ISBN 3540283994 ;

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