A chain store system consists of four or more stores which carry the same kind of merchandise, are centrally owned and managed and are usually supplied to from one or more central warehouses. It is a very common scenario as usually all big retail companies open multiple stores.
They have the following features:
(i) A retail chain consists of multiple retail outlets owned and operated under the same ownership.
(ii) It usually offers the same variety of merchandise across different stores.
(iii) Store operations and retail practices are standardised across stores.
(iv) It usually has a centralised purchasing and distribution system.