RETAIL TRADE



Retailers are business firms engaged in offering goods and services directly to consumers. In most—but not all—cases, retail outlets are primarily concerned with selling merchandise. Typically, such businesses sell individual units or small groupings of products to large numbers of customers. A minority of retailers, however, also garner income through rentals rather than outright sales of goods (as in the case of enterprises that offer furniture or gardening tools for rent) or through a combination of products and services (as in the case of a clothing store that might offer free alterations with the purchase of a suit).

The retail industry is a massive part of the overall U.S. economy. In the mid-1990s, for example, retail establishments accounted for better than one out of five jobs in the country, and pulled in more than $2 trillion on an annual basis. Moreover, many retail niches are characterized by a healthy population of smaller enterprises; indeed, the vast majority of retail employees in the United States work at establishments with fewer than 20 employees.

Retail trade is widely known as a very competitive area of commercial endeavor, and observers note that many fledgling retail establishments do not survive for more than a few years. Indeed, competition for sales has become so great that consumers have seen a marked blurring of product lines among retailers. Increasingly, retailers have taken to stocking a much greater variety of goods than their basic industry classification would indicate (bookstores, for example, increasingly stock music products, while food, liquor, office supplies, automotive supplies, and other wares can all be found in contemporary drug stores). This development further complicates efforts to establish and maintain a healthy presence in the marketplace. But for the small business owner who launches a retail store on an adequate foundation of capital, business acumen, and attractive merchandise, involvement in the trade can be rewarding on both financial and personal fulfillment levels.

PRIMARY RETAIL TYPES

Retail enterprises can be either independently owned and operated or part of a "chain," a group of two or more stores whose activities are determined and coordinated by a single management group. Stores that are part of a chain may all be owned by a single company, but in other cases, the individual stores may be franchises that are independently owned by a small businessperson.

Many different types of retail establishments exist, and, as noted above, the overall industry has seen a significant blurring of the boundaries that had long separated the wide range of companies operating under the retail umbrella. Nonetheless, retailing establishments still generally fall into one of the following general categories:

FURTHER READING:

Buss, Dale D. "The Little Guys Strike Back." Nation's Business. July 1996.

Dolber, Roslyn. Opportunities in Retailing Careers. Lincoln-wood, IL:VGM Career Horizons, 1989.

Du, Fanglan, and Ira Apfel. "The Future of Retailing." American Demographics. September 1995.

Johnson, Walter E. "Measuring Retail Performance:Category Sales and Productivity Benchmarks." Do-It-Yourself Retailing. April 1996.

Occupational Outlook:1994-95. Scottsdale, AZ:Associated Book Publishers, Inc., 1994.



User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: