Introduction to Retail and Store Operations
What this domain tests
This section checks whether you can define retailing, distinguish retail formats, and describe how a store runs through a normal day. Questions often ask you to identify a format, match a job role to a duty, or calculate a simple retail KPI.
Core concepts
- Retail is the sale of goods or services to the final consumer for personal or household use. A wholesaler sells in bulk to retailers or businesses, not to the end consumer.
- Functions of a retailer: breaking bulk, providing assortment, holding stock, offering credit or home delivery, and giving after-sales service.
- Formats: kirana/general store, supermarket, hypermarket, department store, specialty store, convenience store, factory outlet, mall-based store, and online/e-commerce retail.
- Organised vs unorganised: organised retail works through registered businesses, systems, billing and trained staff; unorganised retail is the traditional owner-run sector.
- Typical roles: store manager, supervisor, sales associate, cashier, stock/receiving assistant, visual merchandiser, housekeeping staff.
- Store day cycle: opening checks (cleanliness, lights, POS, cash float), trading (greeting, stock filling, billing), closing (cash tally, shutters, reports).
- KPIs: footfall, conversion rate, basket size, sales per square foot, stock turnover, shrinkage.
Worked example
A store records 400 visitors in a day and bills 120 customers. Sales are ₹60,000. Conversion = 120 ÷ 400 × 100 = 30%. Basket size = 60,000 ÷ 120 = ₹500 per bill. Reasoning: conversion compares bills with footfall; basket size divides sales by the number of bills, not by footfall.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling a wholesaler a retailer.
- Dividing sales by footfall to find basket size.
- Confusing hypermarket (large, low-service, wide range) with department store (separate sections, higher service).