Write short notes on each of the following: (i) Small stores (ii) Mobile shops (iii) Tied shops (iv) Supermarkets (v) Peddling.

Answer Details

(i) Small stores

These are small single-shop retail outlets, usually owned and run by one person or a family, keeping a limited range of goods and serving a small neighbourhood. They require little capital, offer personal service and often sell on credit to regular customers.

(ii) Mobile shops

A mobile shop is a retail outlet that moves from place to place, usually a van or vehicle stocked with goods, taking the goods directly to customers in different locations. It is useful in rural and scattered areas where fixed shops are few.

(iii) Tied shops

A tied shop is a retail outlet that is bound by agreement to sell only the products of one particular manufacturer or supplier. The manufacturer often finances or owns the shop, so the retailer cannot stock competitors' goods (for example, a filling station tied to one oil company).

(iv) Supermarkets

A supermarket is a large self-service retail store selling a wide variety of goods, especially foodstuffs and household items, under one roof. Customers pick goods from open shelves and pay at a central checkout point. Goods are pre-packed and price-tagged, and it relies on large turnover at low profit margins.

(v) Peddling

Peddling is a form of itinerant (mobile) retailing in which a trader called a peddler or hawker carries goods about on foot, on the head, or on a bicycle, moving from house to house or street to street to sell to customers. It needs very little capital and reaches customers at their doorstep.