Subject: Analysis of the operating environment trends, patterns and consistencies of the general retail industry

Business Brief

This brief presents an analysis of the general retail industry.
The retail industry performs the logistics function in which it collects the products from the manufacturer and sells it to the final consumer.

It acts as an intermediary between the producer and the consumer and seeks to reduce the costs associated with distribution of products.
General retail industry includes products such as food, clothing, necessities, etc. Weber (2014) stated that there are several products which can be retailed.

Motor vehicles account for 20% of the sales in the retail industry, followed by 14% accounted by food & beverages stores and 10% by drug and cosmetic stores.
Since the consumers can find different brands of one product in one place, it becomes easier for them to compare prices and buy the brand which is best suited for their needs.
The retail industry has been witnessing structural transformation and this has resulted from several factors such as the global economic crisis, the increasing rates of Internet penetration and the increased basket of choices available to the consumer due to increased competition in each product category.

The three major forces – technological, economic and social that have impacted the general retail industry have been researched and analyzed in this report.

Key trends in the general retail industry

Technology has revolutionized the way in which the retail industry had been operating.
The traditional retail model was built on brick-and-mortar stores in which consumers used to visit the store and make all the needed purchases.
With the increasing penetration of smartphones and the Internet, consumers are making purchases online as they find it easier to compare brands and make purchases.

The whole process is very convenient as the consumers do not have

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