| Electronic retailing | A retail format in which the retailers communicate with customers and offer products and services for sale over the Internet. |
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| Factory outlet | Outlet store owned by a manufacturer. |
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| Franchising | A contractual agreement between a franchisor and a franchisee that allows the franchisee to operate a retail outlet using a name and format developed and supported by the franchisor. |
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| General merchandise catalog retailers | Non-store retailers that offer a broad variety of merchandise in catalogs that are periodically mailed to their customers. |
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| Home improvement center | A category specialist offering equipment and material used by do-it-yourselfers and construction contractors to make home improvements. |
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| Hypermarket | Large (100,000 to 300,000 square feet) combination food (60 –70 percent) and general merchandise (30 –40 percent) retailer. |
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| Infomercials | TV programs, typically 30 minutes long that mix entertainment with product demonstrations and solicit orders placed by telephone from consumers. |
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| Internet retailing | A retail format in which the retailers communicate with customers and offer products and services for sale over the Internet. |
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| Leased department | An area in a retail store leased or rented to an independent company. The leaseholder is typically responsible for all retail mix decisions involved in operating the department and pays the store a percentage of its sales as rent. |
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| Multi-level network | A retail format in which people serve as master distributors, recruiting other people to become distributors in their network. |
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| Off-price retailer | A retailer that offers an inconsistent assortment of brand name, fashion-oriented soft goods at low prices. |
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| Outlet store | Off-price retailer owned by a manufacturer or a department or specialty store chain. |
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| Party plan system | Salespeople encourage people to act as hosts and invite friends or co-workers to a “party” at which the merchandise is demonstrated. The host or hostess receives a gift or commission for arranging the meeting. |
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| Pyramid scheme | When the firm and its program are designed to sell merchandise and services to other distributors rather than to end-users. |