What is a Retailer?

A Retailer is a commercial entity positioned at the final link of the supply chain before the consumer.

Retailers buy items in bulk at wholesale cost from manufacturers or distributors and sell individual units to end customers at retail price.

Business Models

  1. Direct-to-Consumer (DTC): The brand acts as both the manufacturer and the retailer, selling directly on their own storefront (e.g. Casper, Gymshark).
  2. Multi-Brand Retailer: A merchant catalog featuring items sourced from multiple independent vendors (e.g. Sephora, Target).
  3. Omnichannel Retailer: Operates both physical brick-and-mortar stores and an online ecommerce site (e.g. Walmart, Best Buy).

Developer Takeaway

Wholesale B2B Portals: When building wholesale platforms for retailers, implement password-gated B2B catalogs with custom tiered quantity pricing rules (e.g. 50% MSRP discount for orders > 100 units).