Retail Terms: Must Read

Scrambled merchandising	The offering of merchandise not typically associated with the store type, such as clothing in a drugstore.



variety	The numbers of different merchandise categories within a store or department.



vertical integration	An example of diversification by retailers involving investments by retailers in wholesaling or manufacturing merchandise.

assortment	the number of SKUs within a merchandise category. Also called depth of merchandise.



Catalog retailing	Non-store retail format in which the retail offering is communicated to a customer through a catalog.



Category killers or category specialist	A discount retailer that offers a complete assortment in a category and thus dominates a category from the customers ’perspective. Also called a category specialist.


Close-out retailer	Off-price retailer that sells a broad but inconsistent assortment of general merchandise as well as apparel and soft home goods, obtained through retail liquidations and bankruptcy proceedings.



Convenience store	A store that provides a limited variety and assortment of merchandise at a convenient location in a 2,000-to 3,000-square-foot store with speedy checkout.