What is retail?

There are many definitions of retail but researchers will generally agree that it is the point at which manufacturing meets the consumer, or is the journey between production and consumption.  Retail does not include the journey between manufacturer and wholesaler or another from one business to another. 

Several industries make products and sell them to consumers, such as restaurants or financial services, and so pure retail is also defined by the type of outlet which goods are sold, or resold, from.   

When measuring how much retail contributes towards the economy, the Office for National Statistics uses Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes:

Retail sales in non-specialised stores (e.g. supermarkets and department stores)

Retail sales in specialised stores (e.g. butchers, greengrocers, fishmongers and tobacconists)

Retail sales of pharmaceutical goods (e.g. chemists and pharmacies)

Retail sales of new goods in specialised stores (e.g. stores selling textiles, clothing, books, electrical household appliances, furniture and lighting)

Retail sales of secondhand goods

Retail sales not in store (e.g. catalogue and mail order sales, online and via stalls and markets).

The sale of motor vehicles and the sale of prepared food are not included in retail.