difference between retail and sales

[rookie1010]

Hello,

I was wondering if there is a difference between retail and sales?

 

[mattocs]

People come to a retail store to buy, so they are in the market for that item/product. Sales you have to convince people that they need that product/service and they can't live without it.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Retail typically means a brick and mortar store (although can probably be online as well), while sales can vary from telemarketing to retail. You can work sales in retail.

So, I guess retail is kind of a medium for business, while sales is a discipline of business.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: mattocs
People come to a retail store to buy, so they are in the market for that item/product. Sales you have to convince people that they need that product/service and they can't live without it.

Yup. Like actually scanning a bottle of coke through a till and trying to get someone to sign up for a credit card or cable plan.

 

[patentman]

Retail literally means "The sale of goods or commodities in small quantities directly to consumers."

"Sales" on the other hand, can refer to the sale of just about anything to anyone. IN general, it relates to the sale of items or services to businesses.

That is, the sale of an ipod to a customer in a Apple store = retail

The sale of a copier to a a business would probably be considered Sales.

Also, retail jobs are generally low paying jobs for teens and the uneducated.

Sales jobs can be extremely high paying, and may require specialized experience and a related degree (i.e., my buddy sells servers for IBM, and they require 5 years fo sales experience and a BS in computer science for the job, but he also makes $150k+ per year)

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the replies,

so retail is not a part of sales or a form of sales

but retail is to consumers/prosumers
and sales is to businesses

 

[mattocs]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
sales is to businesses

Not really. Businesses need to buy stuff at retail shops (office supplies, etc) and consumers get encountered by sales people (upgrading cable service to premium channels, etc.)

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply,

so the statement that sales is to business and retail is to consumers" is not entirely correct.

dont we encounter sales people in a retail shop.

are websites like amazon part of retail or is the terminology limited to bricks and mortar shops?