Large Scale Retailing
Large scale retail trade has a large scale of operation; the retailers achieve their growth by increasing the physical size of their units to cater for more customers. Examples of large scale retail trade are:
Chain or Multiple Store
This is a chain of similar shops with identical store design, layout and stock display.
Characteristics of Chain/Multiple Stores
i. Under the same management and ownership these shops are operated at different places near the customers.
ii. All shops are decorated in the same manner to facilitate easy recognition by customers.
iii. Multiple shops deal with similar types of goods mostly of everyday use e.g., shoes, textiles, watches, automobile products, etc.
iv. The price is uniform in all the shops for similar items. The head office fixes the price. This practice avoids bargaining and cheating.
v. All multiple shops are controlled and managed from the head office.
vi. All multiple shops generally sell goods on cash basis. Credit facility is not available to the customers.
vii. The goods are purchased or produced at a central place and then supplied to different branches for sale.
Advantages of Chain/Multiple Stores
i. Easy identification: All multiples shops are often built alike. They have similar shop-front, display and decorations. This helps the customers to recognise the shops easily.
ii. Elimination of middlemen: Multiple shops are generally owned by big manufacturers. So the middlemen in the process of distribution, like wholesalers and retailers, are eliminated…
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