The functions formerly performed by wholesalers are being handled by manufacturers or retailers. In response, more wholesalers are strengthening channel relationships by adding value. Wholesalers are also becoming more flexible, helping to streamline the movement of products through the channel. The role of wholesaling in marketing channels is evolving toward a more value-added approach. Retailing is the set of value-chain activities related to marketing of goods and services to consumers for personal, family, or household use.
Retailers are customers of upstream channel partners and marketers to downstream customers.
Retailers can provide producers with key information about consumer purchases. They can also pass along product information from producer to customer. The Many Faces of Retailing 1. Retailing is taking a wider variety of forms. Technology opens the way for new forms of retailing such as the World Wide Web of the Internet, CD-ROM catalogs, and interactive kiosks.