Retail is an economic sector that includes companies specialized in the mass marketing of uniform products or services to large numbers of customers. It is the industrial sector that delivers products to the final consumer. The reason for involving wholesalers and retailers in the same sector was a consequence of the large number of common problems and solutions that both sectors have due to the massification and diversity of both their products and their customers. The
retail business can include all the stores or commercial premises that are usually found in any urban center with direct sales to the public; however, its use is more closely linked to large chains of jordan phone number list premises dedicated to the sale of mass consumption products. The most common example of retail is supermarkets; other businesses traditionally associated with retail are department stores, home goods stores, traditional stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, clothing stores, bookstores, among many others. The complexity of retail is due to the wide variety of items and types of items offered, as well as the level of operations carried out. Retail sales operations generate a quantity of data that can be overwhelming for those outside the business.
It is important to make clear that a retailer is not exclusive nor is it necessarily associated with a physical establishment. Based on this characteristic, we could differentiate the types of retailers as:
Offline retailers: those whose business model is based solely on commercial activity carried out in physical stores.
E-retailers: the opposite of the classic model, those who only use the Internet as a sales channel through eCommerce.
Brick and Mortar: This is a hybrid model that combines physical stores with an online store.
Retail Features
Beyond the main characteristic of sales to the end customer already mentioned, there are some particularities specific to retail that we can highlight:
Direct interaction with the end user: direct contact with the customer means that the sale is made in a much more personal way. On the other hand, it also means that customer service and after-sales service are very important.
Greater recurrence: since these are small or medium-volume purchases, they tend to be repeated more frequently.
Carrying out marketing and communication campaigns aimed at the end customer. Retailers have been the driving force behind advertising and marketing (online and offline) since the market has existed.