Retail
Industry Overview
The retail industry consists of selling consumer goods and/or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit and involves the sale of goods from a single point (malls, markets, department stores etc.) directly to the consumer in small quantities for his end use. An increasing amount of retailing has been done online using electronic payment and delivery via a courier or postal mail. Retailing includes subordinated services, such as delivery. The term “retailer” is also applied where a service provider services the small orders of a large number of individuals, rather than large orders of a small number of wholesale, corporate or government clientele. Shops may be on residential streets, streets with few or no houses, or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and mail order, are forms of non-shop retailing.