Difference Between Wholesale and Retail

The word wholesale simply means selling in bulk quantities and retail stands for selling merchandise in small quantities. Wholesale and retail are two distribution arrangement that constitutes a major part of the supply chain. When the goods are manufactured, they are sold in large quantities (wholesale) to the wholesalers who further sells them to the retailers who finally sells them to the ultimate customers.

While a wholesaler sells goods to the businesses, as they purchase goods to sell it further. On the other hand, a retailer targets final consumer and sells goods to them.

In this way, these two business forms are one of the important intermediaries of the marketing channel. In the absence of these two links, the whole chain will get disturbed. Today, we are going to describe the significant differences between wholesale and retail. Have a look at it.

Content: Wholesale Vs Retail

1. Comparison Chart
2. Definition
3. Key Differences
4. Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Wholesale	Retail
Meaning	Wholesale is a business in which goods are sold in large quantities to the retailers, industries and other businesses.	When the goods are sold to the final consumer in small lots, then this type of business is termed as retail.
Creates link between	Manufacturer and Retailer	Wholesaler and Customer
Price	Lower	Comparatively higher
Competition	Less	Very high
Volume of transaction	Large	Small
Capital Requirement	Huge	Little
Deals in	Limited products	Different products
Area of operation	Extended to various cities	Limited to a specific area
Art of selling	Not Required	Required
Need for advertisement	No	Yes

Definition of Wholesale

Wholesale refers to the selling of goods to the customers like retailers, industries, and others in bulk, at a low price. It is a type of business in which goods are being purchased from the producers by the wholesaler in big lots, and then the bulk is split into comparatively smaller lots. Finally, they are repacked and resold to the other parties.

Wholesalers do not pay much attention to the location of the shop and its appearance, and display of goods because they sell only a specific type of items, and their customers are generally retailers or other businesses who purchase the goods for the purpose of resale. These things do not matter to them at all.

In wholesale business, the wholesaler gives more emphasis on the quantity of goods, not on the quality. For starting a wholesale business, there is a huge capital requirement as the business size is large. It does not require any publicity or advertisement.

However, the customers of a wholesale business are spread in various cities, towns or even in different states. Most goods are sold on credit to the customers of the wholesale business. The price of purchased on wholesale is lower as it consists of less profit margin.

Definition of Retail

Retail means selling goods in small lots. When the goods are sold to the final customer, for consumption and not for the purpose of resale, in small quantities, then this business type is known as Retail. Retailers are the middleman between wholesalers and customers. They purchase goods from wholesalers in bulk and sells it to the ultimate consumer in small lots.

The prices of goods purchased in retail are relatively high. The first and foremost reason behind this is the advertisement cost, and the profit margin is high. Moreover, they include other expenses in the price of goods on a proportionate basis, like the rent of premises, salary to the workers, electricity expenses, etc.

Due to extreme competition, it is quite difficult to retain customers for a long time, so the retailer should know the techniques of handling different kinds of customers. In this way, shop location, the appearance of the shop, goods displayed, quality of products and service provided is given much importance because it leaves an impact on the customer’s mind. Moreover, the goodwill of the retailer depends on these parameters. By virtue of this, the retail business person always goes with the quality products. They reject the defective or inferior quality products and pick the best one.

Conclusion

Whenever a product is produced, it does not come to us directly. There are so many hands, through which a product passes, and finally, we get it from the retail shopkeeper. In wholesale, mild competition can be seen, but in retail, there is a cut-throat competition, so it is very tough to retain and regain customers.