How do you define the term modern trade in the retail environment. supermarkets,hypermarkets do fall in this definition, the question is what are the defining characteristics to classify a shop as modern trade outlet.
In French 'la grande distribution' opposed to traditionnal small retail trade (I do not know if 'modern trade' has a specific meaning or not)
Usually the basic criteria is the size of the outlet:
- Hypermarkets are the biggest (over 2500 m2)
- Supermarkets come second
- Smaller shops come then, but are still part of 'grande distribution' (they might be called supérette in French, mini-markets)
But there is also another criteria, which is the organization of the shop:
- All these cited above are self service, and you pay at the cash counter at the exit of the outlet
- Other type of outlet is the department store, like Harrods in London or Le Printemps in Paris. There, you are attended by sales persons, and you pay in each department. This type of outlets were invented in the 19th century, and I guess they do not belong to 'modern trade'.
Finally, another criteria to classify outlets is the goods they sell. Hypermarkets usually sell everything (food and everything else), Supermarkets may be generalists or specialized (sports, books, etc...), and supérette are normally basically for food
The NEW OXFORD Dictionary
OF ENGLISH
hypermarket
noun chiefly Brit. a very large self-service store with a wide range of goods and a large car park, typically situated outside a town.
ORIGIN 1970s: translation of French hypermarché, from HYPER- beyond, exceeding+ marché ‘marke
In French 'la grande distribution' opposed to traditionnal small retail trade (I do not know if 'modern trade' has a specific meaning or not)
Usually the basic criteria is the size of the outlet:
- Hypermarkets are the biggest (over 2500 m2)
- Supermarkets come second
- Smaller shops come then, but are still part of 'grande distribution' (they might be called supérette in French, mini-markets)
But there is also another criteria, which is the organization of the shop:
- All these cited above are self service, and you pay at the cash counter at the exit of the outlet
- Other type of outlet is the department store, like Harrods in London or Le Printemps in Paris. There, you are attended by sales persons, and you pay in each department. This type of outlets were invented in the 19th century, and I guess they do not belong to 'modern trade'.
Finally, another criteria to classify outlets is the goods they sell. Hypermarkets usually sell everything (food and everything else), Supermarkets may be generalists or specialized (sports, books, etc...), and supérette are normally basically for food
The NEW OXFORD Dictionary
OF ENGLISH
hypermarket
noun chiefly Brit. a very large self-service store with a wide range of goods and a large car park, typically situated outside a town.
ORIGIN 1970s: translation of French hypermarché, from HYPER- beyond, exceeding+ marché ‘marke
No comments:
Post a Comment