Retail is characterized by being a business, solid and cost-effective, but the technological advancement has changed things. Known then the advantages and disadvantages of retail trade.
The retail trade or better known as retail the traditional and most direct means of doing business, is an exchange between the merchant that sells a product and the customer that purchase.
However, with the growth of online commerce, retail as it may not necessarily be a transaction face-to-face, but has to be carried out without the presence of intermediaries.
This aspect leads to a degree of transparency and accountability in the management of the retail salesas observing it from the point of view of the customer, you do not have to be provided by a third party to express their consumption needs. And as a trader, you can promote your offers on their own terms and to respond to first-hand customers.
But this relationship of openness between the seller and customer have their pros and cons, because that comes hand in hand with a greater responsibility as the interactions of the service provided to the client become more customized and errors have the potential to undo the so encouraged loyalty to the store.
As in any activity, not everything is rosy, because there are a number of advantages and disadvantages of retail trade that in turn can be differentiated from other sectors such as wholesale and the online business, below we highlight the most prominent:
Advantages of retail trade
- Due to that the retailers sell products directly to end users, they can earn more for the same items than if you were a wholesaler, as these need to leave space in their pricing structures for retailers to obtain gains from these same products.
- A trader who sells a pant directly to customers pyou can ask for the full pricebut a wholesaler that offers the same pants you must sell it to the retailers at a discount to the retailers also can earn a slice of the pie.
- A business retail offers a large amount of marketing opportunitiesranging from the sampling of food products, through the branch of the clothing, and highlighting the possibility of being able to make recommendations personally to the client.
- The use of marketing strategies help to sell items at retail and to develop relationships of fidelity that can lead to repeat sales.
- A store retail will have a better performance for the type of companies that are looking for sell a select quantity of productswhile an online store may work better for those that offer a wide selection of items.
Disadvantages of retail trade
- Retailers tend to operate smaller companies that wholesalers and therefore handle less volume and are less opportunities to obtain better prices.
- The use of marketing strategies can be costly and require additional manpower and infrastructure.
- Some retailers may have difficulties to make their marketing strategies to clients.
- The emergence and rise of e-commerce has made this trend a competitor for the retail sector traditional.
- Open an online store is much cheaper than a physical store retailer, because there is no rent to pay or bills of services directly related to the store, with the exception of web hosting, and technical support.
Digital solutions designed for the retail
The retail trade you have at your disposal a set of tools developed to enhance its functioning and to ensure higher sales volumes, it is the portfolio of solutions developed by the startup Intelligenxia.
A good example of the digital tools available is the Mobile Marketing, which provides a means of continuous interaction with the clients, allowing to provide a more personalized treatment to keep you informed of the deals of the store.
Conclusion
To explore the advantages and disadvantages of retail trade it is possible to obtain a more complete vision of the good and bad of this activity, however remember that the retail has survived throughout history and has demonstrated his strength to be able to adapt to changes in technology and consumption.
To ensure best performance it is necessary to maintain a permanent monitoring of the operations of the store and make technology an ally, being able to implement the use of e-commerce as a complement to the physical store, which will enable you to keep the loyalty of the customers.
