What is Retailing

What is Retailing?

Retailing involves selling products and services to consumers for their personal or family use. Department stores, like Metro and Matahari, discount stores like Giant and Hypermart, and specialty stores like The Gap, Times and Toys 'R' Us, are all examples of retail stores. Service providers, like dentists, hotels and hair salons, and on-line stores, like Amazon.com, are also retailers.
Many businesses, like Mitra, are both wholesalers and retailers because they sell to consumers and building contractors. Other businesses, like The Limited, are both manufactures and retailers. Regardless of other functions these businesses perform, they are still retailers when they interact with the final user of the product or service.

Why is Retailing Important?

As the final link between consumers and manufacturers, retailers are a vital part of the business world. Retailers add value to products by making it easier for manufactures to sell and consumers to buy. It would be very costly and time consuming for you to locate, contact and make a purchase from the manufacturer every time you wanted to buy a candy bar, a sweater or a bar of soap. Similarly, it would be very costly for the manufactures of these products to locate and distribute them to consumers individually. By bringing multitudes of manufacturers and consumers together at a single point, retailers make it possible for products to be sold, and, consequently, business to be done.

Retailers also provide services that make it less risky and more fun to buy products. They have salespeople on hand who can answer questions, may offer credit, and display products so that consumers know what is available and can see it before buying. In addition, retailers may provide many extra services, from personal shopping to gift wrapping to delivery, that increase the value of products and services to consumers.