{"id":60858,"date":"2022-11-19T01:36:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T01:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/glossary\/retail\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:51:45","slug":"retail","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/mailrelay.com\/en\/glossary\/retail\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Retail<\/strong> is the sale of products or services directly to the end consumer, in small quantities, whether in a physical store, online or both. In Spanish, retail is called comercio minorista or venta al por menor.<\/p>\n\n

When you buy bread at the bakery, a pair of sneakers at a shopping mall or a book from an online store, you’re a customer of this type of business.<\/p>\n\n

What does retail mean in Spanish?<\/h2>\n\n

Retail translates as venta al por menor<\/strong> or venta al detalle<\/strong>. The word comes from the Old French retaillier<\/em>, “to cut off”, because merchants divided their goods into small portions to sell them.<\/p>\n\n

Spanish uses the word as is, in the singular: “el retail” or “el sector retail”.<\/p>\n\n

In Spanish it’s pronounced roughly \/r\u00edteil\/, and it’s often misspelled as “reatil” or “ritail”.<\/p>\n\n

The Spanish equivalent is minorista, meaning retailer<\/a>. Its opposite is wholesale<\/em> trade, which sells large quantities to other businesses, as a wholesaler<\/a> does.<\/p>\n\n

What is a retailer?<\/h2>\n\n

A retailer is the company or business that sells to the end consumer.<\/strong> It’s the last link in the distribution chain: it buys from the manufacturer or the wholesaler and sells to the public.<\/p>\n\n

It can be a neighborhood store, a large supermarket chain or an online store.<\/p>\n\n

What defines it isn’t its size but who it sells to: always people buying for their own consumption, in a B2C<\/a> model.<\/p>\n\n

What is the retail sector and what types are there?<\/h2>\n\n

The retail sector includes all the businesses that sell to the end consumer<\/strong>, from food to fashion, electronics or pharmacy. It’s one of the sectors that creates the most jobs in any economy.<\/p>\n\n

By channel and format, these are the most common types of retail:<\/p>\n\n

Type of retail<\/th>How it sells<\/th>Examples<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Physical store or brick and mortar<\/a><\/td>On the premises, face to face<\/td>A bookstore, a shoe store, a bakery<\/td><\/tr>
Supermarkets and hypermarkets<\/td>Wide range of food and household goods<\/td>Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl<\/td><\/tr>
Department stores<\/td>Many categories under one roof<\/td>El Corte Ingl\u00e9s, Liverpool<\/td><\/tr>
Specialty stores<\/td>A single category, with lots of variety<\/td>Decathlon, MediaMarkt, Sephora<\/td><\/tr>
Convenience stores<\/td>Long opening hours and quick shopping<\/td>OXXO, gas station stores<\/td><\/tr>
Ecommerce<\/a><\/td>Online only<\/td>PcComponentes, a WooCommerce store<\/td><\/tr>
Marketplace<\/a><\/td>Platform where many businesses sell<\/td>Amazon, Mercado Libre<\/td><\/tr>
Omnichannel<\/a> retail<\/td>Physical and online stores connected<\/td>Zara, IKEA<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n
\"Types<\/figure>\n\n

Today the line between physical and online stores has almost disappeared. Many customers search on their phone and buy in store, or the other way around.<\/p>\n\n

What is retail marketing?<\/h2>\n\n

Retail marketing is the set of actions a business takes to attract customers, get them to buy more and keep them coming back.<\/strong> It ranges from shop windows and merchandising<\/a> to online campaigns and loyalty points programs.<\/p>\n\n

A classic way to sum it up is the 4 Rs of retail marketing<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n

R<\/th>What it means<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Relevance<\/td>Offering what the customer is looking for, at the right time<\/td>Announcing back-to-school deals to families with children<\/td><\/tr>
Relationships<\/td>Staying in touch without overwhelming<\/td>A weekly newsletter with new arrivals<\/td><\/tr>
Reward<\/td>Rewarding loyalty<\/td>Points, coupons or discounts for customers<\/td><\/tr>
Cost reduction<\/td>Selling at a profit while keeping costs under control<\/td>Buying better and adjusting stock<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

The ultimate goal is customer loyalty<\/a>. Getting a customer to come back costs less than acquiring a new one.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Do you have a store, physical or online?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Mailrelay, you capture customers on your website and in your store and send them offers they’re interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Create a free account<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

What is retail media?<\/h2>\n\n

Retail media is the advertising a retailer sells on its own channels<\/strong>: its website, its app, its in-store screens or its emails. Brands pay to appear right where the customer is about to buy.<\/p>\n\n

Amazon is the best-known example, but more and more supermarkets and chains have their own network.<\/p>\n\n

For the retailer it’s a source of revenue; for the brand, a way to reach shoppers with real purchase data.<\/p>\n\n

How is email marketing used in retail?<\/h2>\n\n

Email is one of the best-performing channels in retail, because it lets you talk to each customer based on what they buy. These are the most common uses:<\/p>\n\n

Capture contacts.<\/strong> On your website, with a subscription form<\/a>, and in your physical store, by offering a digital receipt or a discount for signing up.<\/p>\n\n

Recover sales.<\/strong> The abandoned cart email<\/a> reminds customers of what they left unfinished. We explain how to do it in this guide to recovering abandoned carts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Segment.<\/strong> With segmentation<\/a> you send different offers based on each customer’s usual store, favorite category or spending.<\/p>\n\n

Make the most of key dates.<\/strong> Black Friday<\/a>, seasonal sales and Christmas account for a large share of the year’s sales.<\/p>\n\n

\"Email<\/figure>\n\n

And if you need urgency, combine email with SMS marketing<\/a>: it works well for last-minute alerts or order pickups.<\/p>\n\n

How Mailrelay helps you<\/h2>\n\n

Mailrelay helps you stay in touch with your store’s customers, physical or online. You capture subscribers with forms, store their data in custom fields<\/a> and send each group the offer that interests them.<\/p>\n\n

You can also send SMS from the same platform, from \u20ac0.0345 per message (excluding VAT) and with no commitment. The free account includes up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts, with human support by chat, ticket and phone.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Send your newsletters with Mailrelay<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to 80,000 emails a month and 20,000 contacts for free, with human support on every plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Try Mailrelay for free<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n\n

These are the most common questions about retail.<\/p>\n\n

What is retail in Spanish?<\/h3>\n\n

It’s comercio minorista or venta al por menor: selling products or services directly to the end consumer.<\/p>\n\n

How is retail pronounced?<\/h3>\n\n

In Spanish it’s pronounced roughly \/r\u00edteil\/. In Spanish it’s written “retail”, with no accent mark.<\/p>\n\n

What is a retailer?<\/h3>\n\n

It’s the company or business that sells to the end customer, such as a shop, a supermarket or an online store.<\/p>\n\n

What’s the difference between retail and ecommerce?<\/h3>\n\n

Ecommerce is a form of retail: selling to consumers over the internet. Retail also includes physical stores.<\/p>\n\n

What is the retail sector?<\/h3>\n\n

It’s all the businesses that sell to the end consumer: food, fashion, electronics, home, pharmacy and many more.<\/p>\n\n

Related terms<\/h2>\n\n