Itinerant and small shop retailers

Retailers can be grouped by whether they have a fixed place of business.

Itinerant retailers have no fixed place: they move from place to place. They have small resources, deal mainly in daily-use goods such as fruit, vegetables, toys and household items, and give service at the customer's doorstep. Types:

• Peddlers and hawkers: carry their goods on a cart, a cycle or their own heads, and sell from door to door. This is the oldest form of retailing.
• Market traders: open shops at different places on fixed days, such as a Sunday bazaar or a weekly market.
• Street traders: set up on the pavement at busy places such as railway stations and bus stands.
• Cheap jacks: open temporary shops in a locality.

Fixed shop retailers have permanent premises. They have more resources than itinerant traders, deal in a wider range of goods, enjoy more credibility with customers, and can offer more services such as home delivery and credit.

Small fixed shop retailers:

• General stores: sell a variety of daily-use goods in a residential area. Their success depends on the owner's good relations with local customers.
• Single line stores: deal in one line of products, such as clothes, shoes or books.
• Speciality shops: sell only a particular type of product within a line.
• Street stall holders: small stalls by a main road, selling vegetables, fruit or snacks.
• Second-hand goods shops: sell used goods, such as furniture, books and clothes, at lower prices.