1. CHAIN STORES: • Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central 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 businesses have come to dominate the market in many parts of the world. Chain stores are a form of franchising. • The world's largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, became the world's largest corporation based on gross sales.
2. 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 décor, clothing, groceries, toys, etc. • They are very large stores offering a huge assortment of "soft" and "hard goods; often bear a resemblance to a collection of specialty stores. • A retailer of such store carries variety of categories and has broad assortment at average price. They offer considerable customer service.
3. CATEGORY KILLERS: • Small specialty stores have expanded to offer a range of categories. They have widened their vision in terms of the number of categories. • They are called category killers as they specialize in their fields, such as electronics (Best Buy) and sporting goods (Sport Authority). • By supplying wide assortment in a single category for lower prices a retailer can "kill" that category for other retailers. For few categories, such as electronics, the products are displayed at the centre of the store and sales person will be available to address customer queries and give suggestions when required. Other