Retail – What is Retail?

Retail has its origin in the English language and refers to retail trade, which is what is known in our country as the retail sale of products. This retail sale or B2C (Business to Consumer) is about selling directly to the end consumer.    

For this reason, retail refers to the set of all those businesses, regardless of their size, that provide this sales service to the final consumer, such as any clothing store, decoration store, supermarket, butcher shop, among others.  

 

Índice

  1. What is the retail sector
  2. Retail subsectors
  3. What is retail sales?
  4. Retail channels

What is the retail sector

As we have seen, retail includes all those businesses that have a B2C sale. However, when talking about the retail sector, it is usually associated with large chains within the economic sector that specialize in selling products or services to a massive number of customers.  

Therefore, the retail sector refers to those large companies dedicated to direct sales to consumers. Some examples of these companies may be supermarket chains such as Mercadona or clothing chains such as Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Lefties, etc.).  

Retail subsectors

Being such an extensive sector, retail is subdivided into other sectors depending on the type of products or services they offer. These are the subsectors that are considered within the retail range:

  • Alimentation and drinks.

  • Fashion: clothing, footwear, jewelry, accessories, etc.

  • Beauty: perfumes, makeup, cosmetics, etc.

  • Construction: DIY, hardware, materials, etc.

  • Electronics: computers, smartphones, smart devices, etc.

  • Home: furniture, appliances, kitchenware, decoration, etc.

  • Specialties: floristry, painting, bookstore, toys, pets, automobile, crafts, stationery, sports, etc.

  • Others: pharmacies, gas stations, tobacconists, stores with several departments, etc.

What is retail sales?

Retail sales are what is known as retail sales. This is the sale carried out by the types of businesses included in the retail sector, since physical stores usually make available sellers who directly help the consumer make their purchases. Therefore, it is a type of direct sale to the final consumer.  

Retail channels

Retail channels are those channels through which retail sales can be made. A few years ago, the store or kiosk was only known as a direct channel in which the consumer could buy based on their needs.    

Nowadays and thanks to the existence of the Internet, what is known as e-commerce, through which retail businesses can also offer their products and services online, and also speeds up the sales process.

In this way, any consumer can enter the website of one of these merchants and buy what they need directly . In fact, e-commerce has revolutionized the world of retail since now a direct customer can see a product online, reading its characteristics and obtaining more information about it before deciding to buy it, where they can use various payment methods of their choice. .