Consumer Protection and Commerce

The cooperatives societies set up shops to sell low priced goods to poor people. In Tamil Nadu, around 94% shops are run by the cooperatives.

Public distribution system relates to retailing system. PDS is a network of fair price shops where the necessary commodities and staple food grains are provided to the poor people at low price as compared to the market. So this is a retailing system as the distribution is done through retail shops. 

Producers directly sell to conumers,

$\Rightarrow$  For consumer price index, price quatations are collected from: $Retailers.$

$\Rightarrow$  Another name of consumer's price index number is ; $Cost\,of\,living\,index.$

A trader who sells goods in small quantities to the buyers is known as a retailer. Traders purchase the goods from the wholesaler and then sell the final goods to the consumers. Example of retailers is neighbourhood shops, shops in malls, hawkers, vendors etc.

In a market, the people in between the producer and the final consumer are the traders. The wholesaler is the trader who buy goods in large quantity from various producers. They are the traders who are the first one to buy goods in large quantities from the producer. They then sold the goods to small traders known as retailers.

Retailers cannot be classified based on the quantity of goods. Dealing in bulk quantities would make them a wholesaler. They are connecting link between the consumers and whole sellers.
 
Retailers are of many categories and they are classified on the following basis;

• Size
• Goods
• Price
• Ownership

Itinerant means traveling from place to place. Itinerant retailers have no fixed place of business. The Kisan Mandi or Market is itinerant retailing where retailers bring their  produce or product, invest small amount of capital, sell them and earn profit and move to next place.

The whole sellers buy goods directly from the consumers in stock or in bulk quantity. They further sell it to the retailers to earn profit. This way they become connecting link between retailer and producer. The retailer further sells it to the customers.

Retailers buy goods from whole sellers who buy directly from the producers in massive or bulk quantity. The retailers buy goods as per their need and requirement of sale and sell them to the consumers. 

Small-scale retailers are those retailers which have fixed business premises and operate through unit stores or small shops located in residential areas or markets. They mainly include small shops on the roadside, general stores etc. They sell a limited variety of products for regular use like stationery, grocery, etc. They also provide services like goods on credit and home delivery to their customers.

Neighborhood shops are valued for their convenience (proximity) and the personal relationship between the buyer and seller, which often includes credit facilities.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) goods are popularly named as consumer packaged goods. Items in this category include all consumables (other than groceries/pulses) people buy at regular intervals. The most common in the list are toilet soaps, detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, shaving products, shoe polish, packaged foodstuff, and household accessories and extends to certain electronic goods. These items are meant for daily or frequent consumption and have a high return for the manufacturing company.

A wholesaler may be defined as the middlemen who operate between the producers (from whom they purchase goods) and the retailers (to whom they sell goods). Wholesaler refers to any individual or business firm selling goods in relatively large quantities to buyers(retailers) other than the ultimate consumers. Thus the manufacturers who sell their products directly to retailers may also be regarded as wholesalers.