Retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services from a business to a consumer, not for resale but for one’s own use or consumption. It handles transactions of small quantities of goods and the transaction is direct with the consumer.
A retailer is a person or a business that sells small quantities of goods to the end consumer for their own use.
Retailing is the distribution process of a retailer obtaining goods and services and selling them to the consumer for use.
The Supply Chain
The process that occurs between companies and suppliers in order to get the product to the end-user is called the supply chain. These are the players who make up the supply chain:
- Manufacturers – They produce goods from their raw state with heavy machinery and labour.
- Wholesalers – They purchase goods in large quantities and resell them to retailers at low prices.
- Retailers – They purchase goods from wholesalers and sell them directly to consumers. There are instances where retailers buy goods directly from manufacturers.
- Consumer – They are the end-point of the supply chain. They purchase goods from retailers in small quantities to satisfy demand.
Retailers are right in the middle of this chain and understanding their place ensures that they get consumers the right products at affordable prices within the right time frame.
Types of Retail
Retail can be categorized into different types based on factors such as;
- How products are sold to the consumer [Store retailing, Non-store retailing, Corporate retailing, Internet retail and Service Retailing].
- Retail Stores or where consumers can purchase products [Department Stores, Grocery Stores and Supermarkets, Warehouse retailing, Speciality Retailers, Convenience Retail, Discount retail, Mom-and-Pop stores and E-tailers].
- Retail business type [Independent retail, Existing retail, Franchise, Dealership and Network marketing].
How Sumundi is helping and can help more
Retailers are very relevant in the sense that they are the final link in the supply chain between manufacturers and consumers. Retailing allows manufacturers to focus on producing goods without having to be distracted by the end-user. They also serve as a communication channel for the manufacturers and the end-users.
Sumundi is doing a marvellous job in helping retailers work efficiently. For some time now, retailers have had to make a record of all their transactions and their goods using the old fashioned way, i.e. with pen and paper, with no easy way of analysing their records.
A great way to see how antiquated this method is, is imagining that a University had to keep records of all the students in different departments and programmes and their academics scores all in books. Just imagine the headache that will give. It will definitely hinder progress and make the school system very slow and inefficient.
This is why the work we do for retailers at Sumundi becomes an important part of our everyday lives.
