What is Retailing?

What is Retailing? Retailing involves selling products and services to consumers for their personal or family use. Department stores, like Burdines and Macy's, discount stores like Wal-Mart and K-Mart, and specialty stores like The Gap, Zales Jewelers 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 Home Depot, 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.

Manufacturer	Distributors/Wholesalers	Retailers	Consumers
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. According to the National Retail Federation, 1 in 5 American workers are employed in the retail industry. The Department of Labor estimates that since 1990, 700,000 new jobs have been created in the retail sector. That's 13% of all new jobs in the United States. At present, more jobs are provided in retailing than the entire U.S. manufacturing sector.
	The Future of Retailing Advances in technology, like the Internet, have helped make retailing an even more challenging and exciting field in recent years. The nature of the business and the way retailing is done are currently undergoing fundamental changes. However, retailing in some form will always be necessary. For example, even though the Internet is beginning to make it possible for manufacturers to sell directly to consumers, the very vastness of cyberspace will still make it very difficult for a consumer to purchase every product he or she uses directly. On-line retailers, like Amazon.com, bring together assortments of products for consumers to buy in the same way that bricks-and-mortar retailers do. In addition, traditional retailers with physical stores will continue to be necessary. Of course, retailers who offer personal services, like hair styling, will need to have face-to-face interaction with the consumer. But even with products, consumers often want to see, touch and try them before they buy. Or, they may want products immediately and won't want to wait for them to be shipped. Also, and perhaps most importantly, in many cases the experience of visiting the retailer is an important part of the purchase. Everything that the retailer can do to make the shopping experience pleasurable and fun can help ensure that customers come back.