Wholesalers often purchase goods in bulk quantities from manufacturers. Once the purchase is made, the wholesalers distribute the goods in small quantities to retailers for further resale. During this stage, they provide manufacturers with a variety of warehousing facilities such as collection, storage, marketing and distribution of goods. These services reduce the burden on manufacturers by creating time and place utility thus enabling them to produce goods on large scale and benefit from economies of large scale.
Street Trader |
Street Shops |
Small retailers who generally sell low –priced consumer items on streets |
Shops situated on street sides or main roads |
Do not have permanent shops |
These stores generally sell all the brands of the product in which they specialise. |
Stationery items, eatables, newspaper etc |
Clothes, shoes, grocery items, bakery items. |
Single line stores are small shops that deal in only one product - for example, garments or shoes. They offer a wide variety of products. For example, a single line store that deals in shoes will have shoes in all sizes for men, women and children.
On the other hand, speciality stores deal only in a particular type of product from a selected product line. For example women clothing. Such stores generally sell all the brands of the products in which they specialise. For example, if a store specialises in women’s clothing then it will have all the brands of women’s clothing.
Fixed shop retailers are retailers who have permanent establishments. This means that they sell goods and services from fixed shops and do not move from place to place to serve customers.
Followings are the main features of fixed shop retailers:
Internal trade means buying and selling of goods and services within the national boundaries of the country. Purchases of goods from a local shop, a mall or an exhibition are all examples of internal trade. Government does not levy any custom duty or import duty on these goods and services.
It can be classified into two broad categories –
Life without a retail shop would be very difficult for the consumers as these shops act as a link between manufacturer/ wholesalers and consumers. If there is a retail shop nearby we can buy the products as and when we require very easily. On the other hand, if there is no retail shop nearby then we will have to travel a lot of distance for buying even a daily use simple product.
Retailers help consumers in the following ways:
The services provided by wholesalers to manufacturers are:
Itinerant retailers are traders who do not have a fixed place for operating their business & keep on moving from place to place, with their wares in search of consumers.
The reasons that itinerant traders survive in spite of the tough competition from large scale retailers can be attributed to the following factors:
The services offered by retailers to wholesalers are:
The services offered by retailers to customers are:
Mail order houses are retail outlets that sell their merchandise through mail. There is generally no direct personal contact between buyers and the sellers in this type of trading.
The following are the usefulness of mail order houses:
Types of products handled by mail-order houses are:
A consumer cooperative store is an association organised by consumers to obtain their requirement by purchasing in bulk and selling through their stores owned, managed and controlled by themselves. It is a retail trading organisation formed by private consumers to purchase products or services at favourable prices. Consumer cooperative stores generally buys in large quantity directly from manufacturer or wholesalers and sell them to the consumers at reasonable prices. Since there is no middleman, the members get products at a cheaper rate and better quality.
Its advantages over large scale retailers are:
The following are the features of departmental store:
The following are the differences between the departmental store and multiple shops or chain stores.
Basis of Distinction |
Departmental Stores |
Multiple Shops |
Location |
Located at central place for attracting a large number of buyers |
Located at number of places, not necessary at central location |
Range of Products |
Aim at satisfying all the needs of customers as they carry a variety of products of different types under one roof |
Aim to satisfying the needs of the customers relating to a specified range of their products only |
Services Offered |
Emphasis on providing maximum service to their customers like restaurant, restrooms, etc |
Provide very limited service confined to guarantees & repairs of defective goods |
Pricing |
Do not follow any fixed or uniform pricing policy, instead provide discounts on merchandise to clear stocks |
Follow fixed prices of goods & uniform pricing policy for all the shops |
Class of Customers |
Cater to the high income group of customers who give importance to services provided more than prices |
Cater to different types of customers, including lower income groups, who value quality at reasonable prices |
Credit Facilities |
May provide credit facilities to some of their regular customers |
Sales are made strictly on a cash basis |
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