1.2 Retail product ranges
From a retailer’s viewpoint, it is important to understand why customers visit a particular high street store or online shop, as their motivations and needs have implications for the products a retailer sells and the levels of service to provide. There is a wide range of retailers to choose from when we go shopping and Table 1 provides a list of some common retail product categories and sub-categories.
| Category | Sub-category |
|---|---|
| Alcohol | Wines, beers, spirits |
| Books and stationery | Printing, cards, paper, pens, writing materials |
| Chemists and drugstores | Beauty products, toiletries, cosmetics |
| Clothing | Baby wear and nursery goods, children’s wear, ladies’ wear, menswear, knitwear, fashion accessories, work wear, school wear, maternity wear, lingerie, leather wear, sports wear, bridal wear |
| DIY goods | Wallpaper, paint, hardware, ironmongery, doors |
| Electrical goods | Computer hardware, computer software, white goods, brown goods, audio-visual |
| Finance | Banking, insurance, credit, building societies |
| Footwear | Children’s, ladies’ and men's shoes, sports shoes, shoe repair |
| Foodstuffs and consumables | Grocery, butchers and poultry, bakery, fishmongers, greengrocers, confectionery, health foods, organic foods, delicatessen |
| Furniture and carpets | Curtains, sofas, soft furnishings |
| Garden products | Flowers, plants, gardening equipment |
| Household and textiles | China, household linens, pictures and frames, lighting, drapers, glassware, bedding |
| Music and film | Records, DVDs, CDs, musical instruments |
| Rentals | Television, films, games |
| Sports equipment | Camping and outdoor goods, leisure goods, bicycles and cycle accessories |
| Restaurants and take-away food | Traditional foods, international foods, snacks |
(Source: adapted from Hemming Information Services, 2006, p. 585)