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Which product do you think is the best seller in Shopping sites World-wide?

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Which product do you think is the best seller in Shopping sites World-wide?

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Which Online shopping site do you think was launched first on World Wide Web

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Which Online shopping site do you think was launched first on World Wide Web

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Which is safe? Online or Retail shopping

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Which is safe? Online or Retail shopping

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Online grocery retailing is very competitive. Hence, many online grocery startups start focussing on expanding their services to various cities. However, these horizontal expansions create various problems for online grocery startups like exhausting their VC money, etc. As a result in many cases, online grocery startups end up withdrawing services with time. Sustaining competition and running a business in various cities are some other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store.Housewives are less tech-savvy: Sometimes the solution itself becomes a problem. Shopping grocery online aim at saving people’s time and effort of going to market and shop for their daily needs items. Well, most of the grocery shopping is done by housewives. Not all the housewives are tech savvy. For many housewives, apps and online grocery shopping is an alien concept.Moreover, browsing through various sites and comparing prices doesn’t excite them. They prefer going to the market and do their shopping. Moreover, many housewives prefer bargaining over comparing prices on the internet. Among various Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, attracting these housewives is the main issue.Availability of preferable grocery item at the time of needlogistics and managing stocks for such a wide variety of grocery goods are other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Online retail grocery stores act as one large supermarket where the buyer can find numerous brands for one single grocery item. Most of the people are quite particular about their brand preference as far as their daily need items are concerned. Hence, when buyers fail to find their preferred brand or the grocery item they are looking for runs out of stock, it’s their local market which comes to their rescue.Inability to master inventory managementSome of the online grocery startups follow the inventory-led business model. Under this model, the companies maintain their own inventories. This does provide them with various benefits as the company has complete control over managing stocks as well as its movement. However, the major drawback in managing a warehouse is its rental cost. The company needs to have a good financial backup to deal with the cost associated with warehouses and cold storages.InfrastructureInfrastructure is another important factor on the list of Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Different online retail startups adopt different business models. Some online retail shops have tie-ups with local grocery retailers, and some have their own stores to take care of the grocery needs of their customers. Companies with their own stores need to have a huge capital. Expenditures like the rent of shops, maintenance of shops, cost incurred for transportation and other logistic related costs, together consume a major part of the revenue earned. Hence in many cases failure to manage infrastructure turns out to be the major reason behind why grocery stores fail.CompetitionOnline grocery market is highly competition driven. Among all the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, preventing customers from switching to the competitor’s website is the most crucial challenge.  With so many options available on the internet customer enjoys the benefits of browsing through various websites and select the product from a website which gives maximum benefits. Hence, staying ahead of the competition is very important for any online grocery startups. Online grocery stores need to keep a close watch on their competitor’s each and every move.Another issue faced by online grocery stores is that they face the competition from both other online retailers as well as the retailers of local grocery shops. After all, a vegetable and fruit hawker also give door to door delivery. Surviving in such a competitive market is not an easy task. One has to keep on working on new and innovative ideas to attract new customers and retain their existing customers.

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Online grocery retailing is very competitive. Hence, many online grocery startups start focussing on expanding their services to various cities. However, these horizontal expansions create various problems for online grocery startups like exhausting their VC money, etc. As a result in many cases, online grocery startups end up withdrawing services with time. Sustaining competition and running a business in various cities are some other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store.Housewives are less tech-savvy: Sometimes the solution itself becomes a problem. Shopping grocery online aim at saving people’s time and effort of going to market and shop for their daily needs items. Well, most of the grocery shopping is done by housewives. Not all the housewives are tech savvy. For many housewives, apps and online grocery shopping is an alien concept.Moreover, browsing through various sites and comparing prices doesn’t excite them. They prefer going to the market and do their shopping. Moreover, many housewives prefer bargaining over comparing prices on the internet. Among various Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, attracting these housewives is the main issue.Availability of preferable grocery item at the time of needlogistics and managing stocks for such a wide variety of grocery goods are other major Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Online retail grocery stores act as one large supermarket where the buyer can find numerous brands for one single grocery item. Most of the people are quite particular about their brand preference as far as their daily need items are concerned. Hence, when buyers fail to find their preferred brand or the grocery item they are looking for runs out of stock, it’s their local market which comes to their rescue.Inability to master inventory managementSome of the online grocery startups follow the inventory-led business model. Under this model, the companies maintain their own inventories. This does provide them with various benefits as the company has complete control over managing stocks as well as its movement. However, the major drawback in managing a warehouse is its rental cost. The company needs to have a good financial backup to deal with the cost associated with warehouses and cold storages.InfrastructureInfrastructure is another important factor on the list of Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store. Different online retail startups adopt different business models. Some online retail shops have tie-ups with local grocery retailers, and some have their own stores to take care of the grocery needs of their customers. Companies with their own stores need to have a huge capital. Expenditures like the rent of shops, maintenance of shops, cost incurred for transportation and other logistic related costs, together consume a major part of the revenue earned. Hence in many cases failure to manage infrastructure turns out to be the major reason behind why grocery stores fail.CompetitionOnline grocery market is highly competition driven. Among all the Challenges faced by Online Grocery Store, preventing customers from switching to the competitor’s website is the most crucial challenge.  With so many options available on the internet customer enjoys the benefits of browsing through various websites and select the product from a website which gives maximum benefits. Hence, staying ahead of the competition is very important for any online grocery startups. Online grocery stores need to keep a close watch on their competitor’s each and every move.Another issue faced by online grocery stores is that they face the competition from both other online retailers as well as the retailers of local grocery shops. After all, a vegetable and fruit hawker also give door to door delivery. Surviving in such a competitive market is not an easy task. One has to keep on working on new and innovative ideas to attract new customers and retain their existing customers.

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The concept of an online grocery store was based on the idea of making the life of people easy and comfortable. Shopping for grocery item is a routine job. It is something which people do to fulfill their household needs. Hence, came the concept of online grocery. Many local, as well as international players, came up with their websites and apps.Even though grocery items constitute daily need items, still the online grocery stores are lagging behind as compared to other e-commerce businesses. Many online grocery stores did show tremendous growth in their start-up years, but with time, these stores failed to achieve set goals and started showing losses. Many big names like Grofers, e-grocers, Peppertap, etc.  are either shutting down their businesses in various cities or planning to quits in 2019. Now the question arises “Why grocery stores fail in India?” 

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The concept of an online grocery store was based on the idea of making the life of people easy and comfortable. Shopping for grocery item is a routine job. It is something which people do to fulfill their household needs. Hence, came the concept of online grocery. Many local, as well as international players, came up with their websites and apps.Even though grocery items constitute daily need items, still the online grocery stores are lagging behind as compared to other e-commerce businesses. Many online grocery stores did show tremendous growth in their start-up years, but with time, these stores failed to achieve set goals and started showing losses. Many big names like Grofers, e-grocers, Peppertap, etc.  are either shutting down their businesses in various cities or planning to quits in 2019. Now the question arises “Why grocery stores fail in India?” 

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Comment on what would you choose

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Take a look at this Interesting Information and Comment what you think about it

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The History of Retail Shopping: A Millennium of Change

The term " retail therapy " originated in the 1980s. The Chicago Tribune claims one of the earliest uses of the term, penned by journalist Mary T. Schmich, referenced the now-familiar phenomenon: hitting the stores to improve mood and outlook on life. At some point, shelling out the dough for something new became a more potent ameliorative than exercise, sunshine, or anti-depressants.

Ask the average sixteen-year-old girl what she likes to do in her spare time, and chances are good she'll mention hitting the local shopping mall. It's the Mecca for consumers on Black Friday and, to a lesser degree, every weekend of the year. Going shopping with friends or wandering the stores has become an ideal kind of short-lived getaway.

Cowrie Shells and Coinage

Before there was currency, there was trading. According to archaeological finds, around 1200 BC, traders used cowrie shells as tokens similar to coins to mark the value of commercial transactions. as History of Retail Objects' website points out. Coins later replaced cowrie shells as the currency of choice. Archaeological evidence and ancient manuscripts tell the story of ancient civilizations who used coins like Roman drachma and denarii.

According to the Encyclopedia of Ancient History, "shopping" likely consisted of purchasing necessities; for the rich, cowrie shells or gold coins would have also been used on luxuries to impress visiting dignitaries. Even then, the biggest "retail" system of which we have specific knowledge of included the agora-the Roman trading center where individual tradesmen would set up shop to offer their goods. These goods consisted of everything from the day's catch of fresh fish or recently harvested vegetables to extraordinarily valuable purple dye.

Renaissance Europe Markets and Fairs

During turn-of-the-century (16th century) Europe, shopping took on a new form as expansive marketplaces and fairs were developed as fundraisers and temporary celebrations. One of the largest was the Foire St. Germain in Paris, a fair for the benefit of the Abbey of St. Germain, established by Louis XI in 1482, according to History of Retail Objects' website.

This fair lasted a few weeks around Easter. Tradesman would haggle, auction, and raffle off items for the benefit of the famous Abbey. Residents of Paris enjoyed something much like an early shopping mall. Similar fairs gained popularity and spread throughout the developed Western world.
The Industrial Age and Birth of Mass-Produced Goods
With the nascent industries of the Industrial Age came the now-familiar mass-produced products that contributed to the fast, widespread industrialization of shopping culture and the birth of the retail industry as we know it. Businessmen began to see the promise in opening general-merchandise stores to profit from the now-available needed goods.

Specialty shops, urban galleria, and department stores were born in the 18th and 19th centuries, giving rise to a culture accustomed to being able to find anything they needed at the drop of a hat. In the late 1800's, Montgomery Ward's first mail-order catalogs and the new invention of the cash register gave shoppers more options than ever before, according to Acudesignservices.com.
The Technological Age Brings a World to Your Doorstep
Today, retailers can do almost all of their business virtually, with online and mobile shopping and complete software tools like Netsuite which controls inventory, accounting, CRM, point of sales and just about everything else. Consumers can step into stores filled with European styles, Asian electronics and kitschy decor items developed by tradesmen in third-world countries. They can hop on their cutting-edge laptops or iPhones and purchase items from vendors a world away, expecting delivery within as little as one day. They can read experts' speculations on the potential future of technological revolution while browsing for the perfect gift for their wives, brothers, and children.

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The History of Retail Shopping: A Millennium of Change - Retail Minded

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The term " retail therapy " originated in the 1980s. The Chicago Tribune claims one of the earliest uses of the term, penned by journalist Mary T. Schmich, referenced the now-familiar phenomenon: hitting the stores to improve mood and outlook on life.

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Which are your Favourite online shopping sites?Comment

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Online shopping is growing rapidly in India. Now, many people prefer to buy everything from groceries to clothes online. There are many online shopping portals in India which sell a wide range of products. In this blog, we will discuss the top 10 online portals in India.

1. Flipkart

Homegrown online shopping site Flipkart is the most loved shopping site. When it comes to online shopping, the first Company that comes to mind is Flipkart. Flipkart is the leader in Indian commerce with the highest market share. Flipkart is one of the websites in India which sells products at affordable rates.

Flipkart offers a huge range of products. It is also said that Flipkart has more products than a mall. The products sold by Flipkart include clothes, footwear, mobile phones, laptops, refrigerators, washing machines, books, cosmetics, groceries and so on. Flipkart dominates the fashion segment and the Smartphone category.

To make shopping even more convenient and worry-free, Flipkart has launched the Pay Later service for selected customers. Under the Flipkart pay later service, customers can pick any product and checkout without making any payment. After receiving the product he/she can experience it and make the payment when it is convenient.

To attract more customers, Flipkart is all set to launch its own customer loyalty programme called 'Flipkart Plus'. Under this plan, Flipkart offers consumers, loyalty points that can be used for benefits such as free delivery, early shipping and early access to products during sales.

During the 5 day Big Billion Day sale which took place in October 2018, Flipkart had grabbed over 70% share of the entire Indian e-commerce market.
Founders: Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
See Also: Things To Know On Flipkart Pay Later

2. Amazon

Amazon is the next best online shopping site in India. Amazon has a large customer base almost as much as Flipkart. There is always a war between Amazon and Flipkart. The gap between the market share of Amazon and Flipkart' is very low. Just like Flipkart, Amazon also offers a huge range of products. While homegrown online retailer Flipkart leads in fashion and smartphones, Amazon has taken the lead in categories like appliances, consumer electronics, and groceries.

Amazon sells a huge range of products including books, electronic goods, cosmetics, footwear, consumer durables, clothes and much more. Along with all this, Amazon also sells grocery products at a reasonable rate. To attract consumers, Amazon offers a wide range of discounts during the festive season.

Amazon has a unique service called Amazon Prime. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime services, you can avail several offers like early access to Amazon deals, free shipping, unlimited video streaming and so on. To subscribe to Amazon Prime, you will be charged Rs 129 a month or Rs 999 a year.
Founder: Jeff Bezos
See Also: Advantages Of Subscribing On Amazon Prime

3. Snapdeal

Softbank-backed Snapdeal is India's third largest online shopping site. It is a favorite among many Indians as it sells products at a cheap price. Snapdeal sells more than 35 million products across more than 800 categories from over 125,000 regional, national, and international brands and retailers. It has more than 3,00,000 sellers and delivers to 6000+ cities and towns in India.

Snapdeal which is based in New Delhi was started in the year 2010 as a daily deals platform, but later became an online marketplace in September 2011.
Founders: Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal
4. Jabong.com

Jabong is a favorite shopping site among the younger generation as it sells high-quality fashion wear at very reasonable rates. Along with fashion wear, Jabong also offers sports goods, accessories such as belts, wrist watches, bags and wallets, fragrances and sunglasses at very reasonable rates.

At present Jabong carries over 1,000 brands and over 90,000 products. The company was co-founded by Arun Chandra Mohan, Praveen Sinha, Lakshmi Potluri and Manu Jain. In the year 2016, Flipkart acquired Jabong through its unit Myntra, for about $70 million.

5. Myntra

Myntra is India's leading online retailer in lifestyle and fashion products. It sells clothes across categories like men, women, and kids. Myntra also offers shoes, watches, cosmetics, bags and so on at discounted prices. Myntra is loved by almost all the women shoppers as it has all kinds of clothes from western wear to traditional clothing.

Myntra has launched different brands with celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan and others as brand ambassadors. Recently, the online portal has launched an ethnic brand with actor Saif Ali Khan, which is known as 'House of Pataudi'. If you want to shop for clothes online, there is no better place than Myntra.

Myntra which is headquartered in Bengaluru, was founded by Mukesh Bansal along with Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena. Later, in the year 2014, Myntra was acquired by Flipkart.

See Also: How To Shop For Clothes Online?

6. Paytm Mall

Paytm Mall is one among the top 10 online shopping sites in India. Paytm mall sells everything from groceries to high-end electronics and mobile phones. It is also one of the cheapest online shopping sites in India. You can buy anything you want from the Paytm Mall and simply pay through the Paytm wallet.

The company is backed by investors like Alibaba and SoftBank and it has sold over 2 million items led by categories like mobile phones, consumer electronics, fashion and groceries on its platform during the festive sale which took place in October 2018.

7. ShopClues

ShopClues sells a wide variety of products like clothes, footwear, jewelry, cosmetics, toys, books, bags, mobiles, cameras and computer accessories at discounted rates. It is loved by many citizens because of its jaw-dropping deals.

The company mainly focuses on unstructured categories of home and kitchen, fashion, electronics, and items of daily utility. More than 75% of ShopClues orders came in from tier III and IV towns, especially from states like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab.

Founders: Radhika Aggarwal, Sanjay Sethi, Sandeep Aggarwal

8. Bigbasket

Bigbasket is India's largest online grocery and food products provider, founded in 2011. Products sold by Bigbasket include fresh fruits and vegetables, rice and cereals, spices and seasonings, packaged products, beverages, meat, fish and poultry products, dairy items and other essentials.

Bigbasket is also planning to launch subscription-based milk delivery services. For the same, Bigbasket has acquired three entities like RainCan, MorningStart, and Kwik24.

Founders: Vipul Parekh, Abhinay Choudhari, Hari Menon, VS Sudhakar, VS Ramesh

9. Pepperfry

Pepperfry.com is an online home and lifestyle shopping store in India that sells furniture and décor for homes, offices, and every other premise. It is one among the top 10 online shopping sites in India.

The ambition of Pepperfry is by the end of 2019- no customer will need to go anywhere outside of Pepperfry to get anything done for their houses.

Founders: Ambareesh Murty, Ashish Shah

10. Homeshop18.com

Homeshop18.com is owned by the Network18 Group and it is one among the top 10 online shopping sites in India. Homeshop18.com sells a wide range of kitchen appliances, cameras, mobiles, laptops, gifts, apparel and much more.

Best online shopping sites in India for clothes

The most common question in many online shoppers' minds is, which are the best online shopping sites in India for clothes? I am going to answer this most asked question. As I am very much addicted to online shopping when I want to shop for clothes, I prefer shopping on Myntra. Myntra has got huge varieties of clothes including both western and ethnic wear. Apart from Myntra, you can also shop on Flipkart and Jabong.

Have a complaint against any company? IndianMoney.com's complaint portal Iamcheated.com can help you resolve the issue. Just visit IamCheated.com and lodge your complaint.

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online home and lifestyle shopping store in india

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best online shopping sites in india for clothes

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Online shopping is growing rapidly in India. Now, many people prefer to buy everything from groceries to clothes online. There are many online shopping portals in India which sell a wide range of products. In this blog, we will discuss the top 10 online portals in India.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of online shopping

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Advantages and Disadvantages of online shopping

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Do you prefer online shopping ?Why?Comment down about it

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Discover some of the pros and cons of shopping online—including how to find and take advantage of considerable savings while steering clear of hidden costs.

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How many times have you clicked 'check-out' to buy something in the last few months? If the spike in online sales amid Covid-19 is any indicator (or, perhaps, the list of merchants on your last credit card statement), it's probably a lot.

Groceries, books, beauty supplies, inflatable children's pools as the pandemic persists, we have relied on ecommerce to get things to our doors, contact-free and fast. These things range from essentials to not-so-quite essentials: in Canada in April, online shoppers trapped at home were scooping up canned quail eggs, sitar strings and trampolines for the kids.

From panic buying and hoarding, we already know that the stress of the pandemic can break our brains and morph our buying habits. However, even though online shopping has been around for years - actually, decades - it's only become truly mainstream recently. Amazon has been around since the mid-'90s, but by even 2010 in the US, online shopping only made up just more than 6% of all retail sales.

And now? Internet sales as a total percentage of sales in the UK rocketed from 2.8% in November 2006 to 18.9% in February 2020 - and then shot up again to 30% in April 2020 because of the pandemic. In May 2020, sales from "non-store retailers" in the US were up 30.8% from May 2019.

Japan's biggest ecommerce site, Rakuten, launched in 1997 among the first wave of online shopping giants (Credit: Alamy)

Before Covid-19, relying on the internet for shopping hadn't been so ingrained in our day-to-day lives. A couple of decades ago, online shopping was a novelty, just as the internet itself still was. Most people were only buying hard-to-find records or obscure action figures on eBay.

So how did we get to the point where online shopping became a way of life? And where will it guide us in the post-pandemic future?
Where we began
In 1984, in Gateshead, England, a 72-year-old grandmother named Jane Snowball sat down in her armchair and used her television remote control to place an order of margarine, cornflakes and eggs.

She used the 'Videotex' system developed by English inventor Michael Aldrich, says Jonathan Reynolds, associate professor in retail marketing and deputy dean of Oxford University's Saïd Business School. Aldrich took her TV and turned it into a computer terminal: she used the Videotex technology to generate a shopping list on her TV screen, and her order was phoned in to her local Tesco. The goods were then sent to her door, like magic.

"It was originally conceived as a social service [for the elderly and disadvantaged]," says Reynolds. "The system, which pre-dated the public Internet, relied upon the development of a closed network of computers." Little did Aldrich or Snowball know that their nifty tech experiment laid the framework for an industry now worth £118bn ($186bn) in the UK.

Following this early grocery service, the next major innovation in the online shopping space is said to have occurred in 1994, when a computer whiz called Daniel M Kohn, then aged 21, set up an online marketplace called NetMarket. It was not only dubbed a " new venture that is the equivalent of a shopping mall in cyberspace", but also marked the first digitally secure transaction. The first purchase? A Sting CD, retailing at $12.48 (£10).

From then, the early internet - with its screeching dial-up sounds - trickled its way into people's homes. And while today virtually all big corporations are online, in the early days only a few committed to an ecommerce strategy.

One of those was Pizza Hut. In 1994, the US chain started selling pizzas online through their early 'PizzaNet' portal - a flat, grey website that looks as ancient as you may expect, with fields only for a customer's address and phone number.

But 1994 was also a watershed year for online shopping: it's the same year Amazon launched - which, at that time, sold mostly books. eBay followed in 1995. Rakuten, Japan's biggest ecommerce site that's expanded into Western markets the past few years, launched two years later. China's Alibaba, in 1999. These companies were setting the stage for an online shopping transition: a wide variety of offerings, consumer accessibility and innovative technology.

Considered the origin of online shopping, the 'Videotex' system was developed in 1984 (Credit: Getty Images)

Mid-1990s globalisation was also a major catalyst that "made ecommerce a viable and highly profitable selling channel", says Thomaï Serdari, adjunct professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. The connected world enabled production to scale up quickly and significantly, for products at many price tiers. "Consumers were eager to find either the best or the most acceptable quality product at the prices they could afford. The internet gave them the tool to conduct extensive research before purchasing an item. It also gave them the insights on how to evaluate the price-to-value ratio and finally the means to purchase."

While early trailblazers such as Amazon and eBay - which dominate the industry today - provided the platform for online shopping, Serdari says it was really the consumer shift in behaviour that led to online shopping taking off. "It was actually consumers who embraced this type of marketplace as a democratised way to consume," she says.
Gaining steam
A real inflection point for online shopping as we know it today could be traced to around 2017. By the end of the prior year, many Americans were " starting to shop online as often as [they] take out the trash"; according to the Pew Research Center, eight in 10 Americans used a computer or phone to buy something online that year - as opposed to the just 22% who did so in 2000. More phones in consumers' hands helped facilitate the jump as smartphone penetration hit 80% worldwide by 2017.

Now, data from 2019 shows that ecommerce comprises 16% of sales in the US. That represents $601.75bn (£489bn) of spending. Shopify, a global ecommerce software giant, reported that worldwide, online sales topped $3.5tn (£2.8tn) the same year. In the US, those numbers in the first quarter of 2020 (before the pandemic) rose more than 14% from the same period in 2019.

But 2020 has changed not only the importance of online shopping - but significantly accelerated its growth. Barbara Kahn, marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, says that the pandemic has accelerated online shopping adaptation by two to three years.

And, what's led to surges in online sales numbers is the very thing that Jane Snowball herself first ordered via her remote: groceries. Between March 2020 and April 2020 in the US, ecommerce sales jumped 49%, led by online grocery with a 110% boost in daily sales. Kahn says that ecommerce has finally reached the kind of high penetration (the kind that makes more sense relative to its age) because people have turned to the internet to buy food.

"It's interesting with Covid, because groceries didn't have a high penetration [in online shopping]," she says. She contrasts that to online shopping's earlier days, where people may have used it to buy books or electronics like computers. "Not everybody buys computers, but everybody buys groceries."

Online grocery shopping was both the origin of ecommerce as well as the category that's leading the explosion of online shopping today (Credit: Alamy)

Here to stay?
The online shopping landscape hasn't only changed due to accelerated adoption of ecommerce as well as a massive jump in merchants offering online shopping out of necessity. ("About 30% of businesses sell online, but Covid-19 forced many more retailers to try ecommerce as a means to survival," says Serdari.)

But it's a necessity that's also done from the comfort of our own homes, and easier to do nowadays since more grocers and stores have adopted online ordering, door-side delivery or kerbside pick-up (click-and-collect). "That convenience has really elevated online shopping," adds Joy Lu, an assistant professor of marketing who specialises in consumer psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in the US state of Pennsylvania.

Still, despite these positive signs for the future of online shopping, consumers have closed up their wallets due to the pandemic, even though there's a post-coronavirus surge in procuring what people do want and need online.

The lingering question is whether online shopping will maintain steady - or even meteoric - growth when consumers can head back to High Street shops.

There may also be a rise in hybrid "omnichannel" shops, says Kahn, refers to companies like Amazon that combine online shopping and physical storefronts with services like Amazon Go. The company tracks your online purchasing habits and has groceries ready to go for pick up at a physical shop as you're on your way home from work.

And after the pandemic? While online shopping started out as a requirement amid social distancing measures and contagion fears, there may be no going back from the new normal of retail - especially now that customers see how doable, easy and fast it is, now that they've been forced to do it.

"People are less patient," Kahn says. "There's been a change in expectations."

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How many times have you clicked 'check-out' to buy something in the last few months? If the spike in online sales amid Covid-19 is any indicator (or, perhaps, the list of merchants on your last credit card statement), it's probably a lot.

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what do you think about it? comment down below

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Retail is a very broad term that encompasses a huge industry, employing millions of people and generating trillions of dollars per year in sales revenue. Retail is the sale of goods to consumers-not for them to sell, but for use and consumption by the purchaser.

This knowledge can help you gain an understanding of the processes involved in getting merchandise to the shelves and the effect a supply chain can have on pricing and sales.

What Is Retail?

Retail involves the sale of merchandise from a single point of purchase directly to a customer who intends to use that product. The single point of purchase could be a brick-and-mortar retail store, an internet shopping website, or a catalog.

Retailing is all about attracting consumers through product displays and marketing. Inventory must be kept, shelves must be kept full, and payments have to be collected. Retailers are more than places to purchase merchandise, however-they provide manufacturers an outlet so that they can focus on creating their products.

How Does Retailing Work?

Retailers rely on a system that supplies them with merchandise to market to consumers. To acquire inventory and ensure they have the products they want to sell, relationships must be established with businesses that operate within the retail supply chain.

The retail supply chain consists of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and the consumer (end-user). The wholesaler is directly connected to the manufacturer, while the retailer is connected to the wholesaler.

The roles of the key players in a typical retail supply chain are:

Manufacturers: Produce goods using machines, raw materials, and labor

Wholesalers: Purchase finished goods from the manufacturers and sell those goods to retailers in large bulk quantities

Retailers: Sell the goods in small quantities to the end-user at a higher price, theoretically at the manufacturers suggested retail price

Consumers: Buy the goods from the retailer for personal use

There are exceptions to this traditional supply chain, however. Some of the world's largest retail companies-like Walmart and Amazon.com, for example-are large enough to deal directly with manufacturers without the need for a wholesaler in the middle of the transaction, because they have their own shipping and storage facilities.

Wholesalers purchase merchandise from manufacturers at negotiated prices. They then mark up their prices to cover their purchasing and generate profit-retailers, in turn, do the same. While this seems as if it might raise prices for consumers, it actually keeps prices lower than if manufacturers had to market their own goods and provide shopping experiences for consumers.

Retailers have to understand their market segments to be able to attract customers and sell merchandise. For example, a Walmart in Florida might not stock many heavy winter coats, but one in Maine probably will.

Customer experience is also something retailers work to achieve. Consumers differ greatly in their preferences in shopping. To provide a unique shopping encounter, some retailers offer services in addition to retail transactions like personal shopping consultations, gift wrapping, or other encounters to add to the experience, exceed customer expectations, and build brand loyalty.

Types of Retailers

There are different types of retailers that specialize in various sales techniques and cater to different consumer types. They each provide different experiences-sometimes offering direct purchasing from a manufacturer, or providing a wide range of merchandise. Others are based more on convenience.

Department Stores

Traditional department stores sell a wide range of merchandise that is arranged by category into different sections in the physical retail space. Some department store categories include shoes, clothing, beauty products, jewelry, housewares, and more.

Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

These retailers sell all types of food and beverage products, and sometimes also home products and consumer electronics as well.

Warehouse Retailers

Warehouse-type facilities such as Sam's Club stock a large variety of products packaged in large quantities and sold at prices lower than retail. They generally sell in bulk or in quantities not otherwise available in other retail outlets.

Specialty/Outlet Retailers

These specialize in a specific category and brand-name products. Victoria's Secret and Nike are examples of specialty retailers, generally selling only merchandise that carries their brand name or is associated with it.

Convenience Retailer

For on-the-go consumers, these are usually a retail location that primarily sells gasoline-they sell a limited range of grocery merchandise and auto care products at a premium "convenience" price.

Discount Retailer

Discounters sell a wide variety of products that are often privately labeled or generic brands at below-retail prices. Discount retailers like Family Dollar, Dollar General, and Big Lots will often source closeout and discontinued merchandise at lower-than-wholesale prices, which passes savings onto consumers.

Internet/Mobile Retailer

Internet shopping websites ship the purchases directly to customers at their homes or workplaces, without the expenses of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. They usually sell merchandise for a lower-than-retail price, using warehouses for storage and developing relationships with warehouses, vendors, and sometimes manufacturers to provide goods at reduced prices.

Key Takeaways

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Retail is a very broad term that encompasses a huge industry, employing millions of people and generating trillions of dollars per year in sales revenue. Retail is the sale of goods to consumers-not for them to sell, but for use and consumption by the purchaser.