Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end-user. Retailers are part of an integrated system called the supply chain. A retailer purchases goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers directly or through a wholesale, and then sells smaller quantities to the consumer for a profit. Retailing can be done in either fixed locations like stores or markets, door-to-door or by delivery.
Retailing includes subordinated services, such as delivery. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as for the public. Shops may be on residential streets, streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall. Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only. Sometimes a shopping street has a partial or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions and mail order, are forms of non-shop retailing.
Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities such as food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.
Related Stories
1
2
Science & Society News
October 29, 2026
Oct. 22, 2026 Forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, tiny radioactive particles still linger in the soil, carrying a dangerous legacy. Using powerful X-rays, scientists discovered that some of these particles have remained surprisingly stable, trapping ...
Oct. 20, 2026 A new study reveals that improved hurricane forecast graphics may help people identify threatened areas without making them more likely to recognize the danger or take protective action. Researchers also found that a widespread misunderstanding of ...
Oct. 20, 2026 The aging brain may be undergoing a remarkable transformation rather than simply losing its abilities, shifting its focus from remembering details to understanding the bigger picture. Scientists suggest this change could be an evolutionary ...
Oct. 18, 2026 A catastrophic volcanic eruption 7,300 years ago devastated Japan, but new research reveals that its impact on prehistoric populations was far more complex than previously believed. While some ...
Oct. 6, 2026 New mothers paired with patient navigators were much more likely to receive postpartum care, depression screening, preventive testing, and ongoing primary care. By helping with barriers such as transportation, childcare, scheduling, and confusing ...
Sep. 24, 2026 A large Danish study found that children diagnosed with ADHD or autism today more closely resemble their peers in the general population than those diagnosed 10 years ago. The shift suggests that rising diagnosis rates may partly reflect broader ...
Sep. 22, 2026 A Yellowstone super-eruption would begin not with a sudden surprise, but with weeks of increasingly alarming warning signs such as migrating earthquake swarms, rapid ground uplift, changing geysers, ...
Sep. 14, 2026 A World War I submarine wreck off Denmark is leaking TNT into the surrounding water, seabed, and marine life more than a century after it sank. Scientists warn that thousands of similar wrecks could pose growing environmental risks as they continue ...
Sep. 13, 2026 Scientists have engineered yeast to turn PET plastic and agricultural waste into ingredients for protein-rich, 3D-printed cookies called µBites. Developed partly for NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge, the system can produce proteins, fats, ...
Sep. 1, 2026 Where you live in early adulthood may quietly shape your heart health for decades. Researchers found that adverse neighborhood conditions were linked to a higher risk of coronary artery calcification in midlife, an early warning sign of ...
Aug. 24, 2026 Common medications may reshape the gut microbiome long after the last dose is taken. In a study of more than 2,500 people, researchers found lasting microbial changes linked not only to antibiotics, but also to antidepressants, beta-blockers, ...
Aug. 24, 2026 More screen time during infancy and around the start of school was linked to poorer academic performance and weaker working memory years later. The findings suggest that early childhood may contain particularly sensitive windows when screen habits ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
Oct. 29, 2026 A remarkably preserved elephant tooth dating back nearly 700,000 years has revealed a surprisingly lush prehistoric world where giant elephants and ...
Oct. 26, 2026 New evidence suggests that early humans reached the Jordan Valley at least 1.9 million years ago, hundreds of thousands of years earlier than scientists previously thought. Advanced dating methods ...
Oct. 26, 2026 A mysterious shipwreck off Turkey’s coast may be the oldest ever discovered, dating back approximately 4,500 years to the age of the Egyptian pyramids. Although the wooden vessel has disappeared, ...
Oct. 24, 2026 A groundbreaking study challenges 70 years of assumptions about how human language works. By analyzing billions of word uses, scientists discovered that meaning is organized around power, danger, and ...
Oct. 17, 2026 Archaeologists have discovered 1,200-year-old remains of Peru’s famous hairless dogs at an ancient Wari Empire burial site, including remarkably preserved mummies and puppies buried alongside ...
Oct. 16, 2026 In 1960, scientists predicted that runaway population growth would bring humanity to the brink of destruction on November 13, 2026, and their mathematical forecasts remained surprisingly accurate for ...
Oct. 16, 2026 Scientists investigating Nazi Germany's secret nuclear program have uncovered evidence that its final experimental reactor was nowhere near as close to working as previously claimed. Analysis of ...
Oct. 14, 2026 A groundbreaking study suggests that 2.22 million Indigenous Australians lived on the continent before European colonization, far more than ...
Oct. 6, 2026 A study comparing 100 primate species, including humans, suggests that everyday aggression and lethal violence did not evolve as part of the same simple behavioral spectrum. Species that frequently ...
Oct. 6, 2026 Ancient pottery from Tampa Bay appears to have been made by migrant craftspeople who brought specialized Mississippian pottery-making knowledge hundreds of miles south. Remarkably, they even ...