ABSTRACT
While the retail industry is undergoing major changes with the advances of e-commerce and omni-channel, it is important to understand the phases throughout its history that have shaped the retail landscape of today. Prior to 1945, retail was primarily made up of "mom-and-pop" and general stores. As both retailers and wholesalers are "intermediaries" and provide a utility or value to the customer, it is useful to first look at the value they provide from a theoretical "utilitarian" perspective. In a more practical sense, retailers provide value through a variety of ways, including: assortment, sorting or breaking bulk, holding inventory, and providing services. Wholesale also offers value in a similar fashion, albeit upstream, to its retail customers. As it appears that the people are in for many years of slow growth and growing competition, many retailers have struggled to come up with strategies to succeed, many of which are good ideas but "piecemeal" efforts to say the least.
