Retail Sub-Sectors

Retail Sub-Sectors

Food Retailers

  • Food retailers range from large supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s, to small local shops such as the corner shop.
  • These businesses mainly sell food-based items, but often expand to other products, such as toiletries, household cleaning products and pet supplies.
  • Food retailers also include specialist food stores like butchers, bakers, and fishmongers.

Non-Food Retailers

  • Non-food retail businesses sell a wide variety of items, from clothes and jewellery, to furniture and electrical appliances.
  • High street names such as Zara or Currys PC World specialise in specific products and offer a wide range within that specialism.
  • Catalogue retailers like Argos offer a diverse range of products through a catalogue ordering system.

Online Retailers

  • Online retailing is a rapidly growing sector of the market. Retailers such as Amazon have no physical stores and operate solely on the internet.
  • Many traditional retailers also have an online presence, using their websites to sell products directly to customers.
  • The key advantage of online retail is convenience, as it allows consumers to shop from the comfort of their own homes.

Service Retailers

  • Service retail businesses sell a service rather than a tangible product. Examples include hairdressers, financial service providers, and travel agents.
  • Service retailers can operate from physical premises or online. They may also offer a combination of both, such as a bank with a high street presence and an online banking facility.

Specialist Retailers

  • Specialist retailers focus on a specific product or market niche. For example, sports retailers like JD Sports only stock sports-related products.
  • The key advantage of this sector is knowledge. Specialist retailers typically have a detailed understanding of their products and their market, allowing them to provide expert advice and high-quality customer service.

Remember, the lines between these sub-sectors can blur, as many retailers operate in more than one. For example, a large supermarket may also offer a financial services division, incorporating elements of both food and service retailing.