Retail is the final stage of any economic activity. BY virtue of this fact Retail occupies an important place in the world economy. In an attempt to understand the scope of the term retail, various definitions of the term have been examined.
According to Philip Kotler: “Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or Services to the final consumers for personal, non-business use. A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sale volume comes primarily from retailing. Any organisation selling to final consumers whether it is a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer is doing retailing It does not matter how the goods services are sold (by person, mail, telephone, vending machine or internet or where the are sold – in a store, on the street or in the consumer’s home)” .
Retailing thus may be understood as the final step in the distribution of merchandise, for consumption by the end consumers. Put simply, an firm that sells products to the final consumer is performing the function of retailing. It thus consists of all activities involved in the marketing of goods and services directly to the consumers for their personal, family or household use.
46 Comments