Retail

Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, as opposed to wholesale, which is the sale of goods and services to businesses and institutions. A retailer buys things in bulk from manufacturers, either directly or through a wholesaler, and then resells them to consumers in smaller amounts for a profit.

Retail stores come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as in a variety of settings, ranging from small strip malls on residential streets to massive indoor shopping malls. Only pedestrians may be allowed on shopping streets. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to create a more comfortable shopping environment – protecting customers from various types of weather conditions such as extreme temperatures, winds or precipitation. [relevant?] Forms of non-shop retailing include online retailing (a type of electronic-commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions)