ABSTRACT
The terms small shop, small retail outlet and small retail unit have been used interchangeably so far but there are subtle distinctions between them that are sometimes important in interpreting the published statistics available on their number and market share. Generally speaking, a small shop is a fixed premise from which goods or services are sold; but a retail outlet will include market stalls, mobile shops and also traders that call on customers at their homes. The term small retail unit might then refer either to some kind of establishment or to a business which includes several operations but remains relatively small in scale. A further complication can be introduced when different forms of ownership and methods of organisation of businesses are considered. The majority of businesses will contain but a single shop or outlet and are deemed to be independently owned (although the 1971 Census of Distribution classified independents as including businesses that contain up to nine branch establishments). Other businesses, with large numbers of shops or outlets, are referred to as multiples; but some of their establishments may be very small in size and occasionally smaller than those which are independently owned.
