Investing in the Retail Industry
Retail is selling goods to end users which are not for reselling but is used for personal consumption by the purchaser. It also involves the merchandise and the intended user of the product. Retail maximizes different platforms such as internet shopping websites, catalogs, mobile application phones or the physical store. The process behind retail consists of the manufacturing of goods while targeting the corresponding market of the product. Retail is basically the act which people can choose the goods that are wanted or needed to be purchased while for some, assistance is needed through salespeople in stores. Consequently, other retail platforms use online customer service aside from detailed product overviews on their websites. Retailing is a matter of marketing a certain product to customers in the form of showing details, benefits and the reason why someone has to have that tangible object.
Retail is quite different than the wholesale because the latter provides the amount of the product in bulk and its key target clients are retailers. Wholesalers are not directly involved with the consumers whereas the retailers are. The supply chain in this industry include the manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. Additionally, there are different types of retails stores that cater to the different markets and covers various products. To name some are department stores, grocery stores, and internet retailer among others.
Particularly, China is one of the most established countries who invested in the retail industry. Its success is attached to the move to maximize the online platform or e-commerce. Online shopping has been one of the trends in the consumers in the retail and with the wide coverage and expansion of websites that cater to this, the retail industry significantly impacts the economy of China. Although it is believed, that online shopping can never replace the physical stores, no one can deny the fact that it accounts for a huge amount of sales for retail.
Retail and e-commerce now work hand in hand in the industry, and both are fast-paced. In this case, the US would need to cope with the goals and strategies that China has been working on; to go beyond that would be a huge impact to their economy as well. In the plans of China expanding their retail reach, the e-commerce branch of the industry allows people to access and purchase from other countries such as the US and Europe. China wanted to further develop their retail industry through having offline retail branches, better logistics, and technology as well as marketing. As a matter of fact, China has already started with this project to intertwine different branches that make up the supply chain.
Although some may forecast that the online retail trend is over, it would not be as bad and devastating as the economic turmoil that China has experienced before. The Nanking Massacre was the cause of the devastating economic situation of China but since then, the country had worked on economic reforms to provide better living condition and more opportunities to its nationals.
The decrease in the retail trend in China may be inevitable however, it shows the opposite for the US. It supports the economic growth that the US is claiming. Although China is a big competitor in the retail industry, the US definitely has learned from what made them give up their spot as the top retailer in the world last 2015. Those who have made the decision to incorporate technology into their retail business has fully commanded their capability to stretch their retails sales beyond the worth of their physical stores. The competition in this industry most definitely involves speed, adaptability, and innovation.