1. On the Basis of Institutionalization Organised and Unorganised:
Organized retail is nothing but a retail place where all the items are segregated and brought under one roof, unlike the unorganized retail where there are different things sold in different shops. It also aims to bring maximum of different brands making the same type of product together.
The retail sector in India is highly fragmented and mostly owner-run “Mom and Pop” outlets. The entire sector is dominated by small retailers consisting of local Kirana shops, general stores, footwear and apparel shops, hand-cart hawkers and pavement vendors. These together form the “unorganised retail” or “traditional retail”.
2. On the Basis of Extent of Ownership:
Some of them may be independent retailers; whereas, others may be branded stores (like Khadim), or franchise stores (like Action, Subway)
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3. On the basis of Product Lines:
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Specialty stores (carry depth but not width), General Merchandise retailers (Broader assortment but not many brands), monster-sized mass merchandisers (like Costco’s hyper market), and smaller general stores (such as drugstores and convenience general stores).
4. On the basis of Categories:
There can be different categories and if one store deals only in one of these categories it comes into that category. In India it is easy to see so many such stores – food and non food stores. Within non-food we may have a bamboo store, store selling only seasonal fruits and vegetables, drug store, hardware store, sanitary wares store and so on so forth.
Retail Stores in Non Food sector include many categories. Specific reference can be made to Drug Stores, which are specific types of speciality stores that focus on beauty and health and personal grooming merchandise. These sell prescription pharmaceuticals. These are more aggressive on price and purchasing patterns, located in city or shopping centres but, now more and more located at neighbourhood locations.
5. On the Basis of Store – Store-Based and Non-Store-Based Retailing:
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Store-based retailers are the ones who operate through a fixed location store, whereas non- store-based retailers operate without any stores. Retailers purchase the goods from a middleman known as a distributor or directly from the manufacturer. Stores may sell a wide variety of merchandise or can specialise in certain types of products.
Retail stores may vary greatly in size. The selling of goods and services without establishing a physical store is known as Non-Store Retailing. Non-Store Retail formats include Category Retailing, Direct Selling, Vending Machines, TV Shopping, Multi-channel Retailing (retailers using several retail channels in parallel to sell their merchandise.