TYPES OF RETAIL FORMATS CHAIN STORES: Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central

l management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesseshave come to dominate the market in many parts of the world. Chainstores are a form of franchising. The world's largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, became the world'slargest corporation based on gross sales. DEPARTMENT STORE: These are the general merchandise retailers offering various kinds of quality products and services. These do not offer full service category products and some carry a selective product line. K Raheja's Shoppers Stop is a good example of department stores. Other examples are Lifestyle and Westside. These stores have further categories,such as home and dcor, clothing, groceries, toys, etc. They are very large stores offering a huge assortment of "soft" and "hardgoods; often bear a resemblance to a collection of specialty stores. A retailer of such store carries variety of categories and has broadassortment at average price. They offer considerable customer service. 3.CATEGORY KILLERS: Small specialty stores have expanded to offer a range of categories. Theyhave widened their vision in terms of the number of categories. They are called category killers as they specialize in their fields, such aselectronics (Best Buy) and sporting goods (Sport Authority). By supplying wide assortment in a single category for lower prices aretailer can "kill" that category for other retailers. For few categories, suchas electronics, the products are displayed at the centre of the store andsales person will be available to address customer queries and givesuggestions when required. Other retail format stores are forced to reducethe prices if a category specialist retail store is present in the vicinity.

For example: Pai Electronics store in Bangalore, Tata Croma 4.HYPERMARKET: A hypermarket is a superstore which combines a supermarket and adepartment store. The result is a very large retail facility which carries anenormous range of products under one roof, including full lines of groceries and general merchandise. hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine weekly shoppingneeds in one trip. It provides variety and huge volumes of exclusivemerchandise at low margins. The operating cost is comparatively less thanother retail formats. A classic example is the Metro in Bangalore.5. EXCLUSIVE STORES : Franchise system of branded companies. A franchisecan be exclusive, non-exclusive or 'sole and exclusive'. The examples of exclusivestores are ADIDAS, REEBOK, BIBA,etc.6. CONSUMER CO-OPERATIVES: A consumer cooperative is a cooperative business owned by its customersfor their mutual benefit. It is a form of free enterprise that is oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Consumers' cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned andoperated by their consumers. The customers or consumers of the goodsand/or services the cooperative provides are often also the individuals whohave provided the capital required to launch or purchase that enterprise. consumers' cooperatives are known as cooperative retail societies or retailco-ops, though they should not be confused with retailers' cooperatives,whose members are retailers rather than consumers. There are many types of consumers' cooperative. There are health care,insurance, and housing cooperatives as well as credit unions, agriculturaland utility cooperatives. 7.SUPERMARKET: A supermarket, also called a grocery store is a self-service store offering awide variety of food and household merchandise, organized intodepartments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocerystore and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore.

A supermarket, also called a grocery store is a self-service store offering awide variety of food and household merchandise, organized intodepartments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditionalgrocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore. CASH&CARRY: Cash and carry is defined as wholesale depot operations from which retailcustomers purchase goods and provide their own transport. Credit terms are normally available, while a limited delivery service may be offered to larger customers. Cash and carry operators buy goods in large quantities from themanufacturer or buying group and then sell these goods to their retailcustomers at prices only slightly above what they paid for them. They accept low net profit margins, in return for high-volume sales, andthus are able to keep costs to a minimum.