View source for Shopping

{{Short description|Buying goods}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
[[File:Souk in Tunisia 1.jpg|thumb|Shoppers at a [[souk]] in Tunisia]]
[[File:Advertising_image_of_a_man_shopping_for_Christmas_presents,_1918.jpg|thumb|right|Advertising image of a man shopping for Christmas presents, United States, 1918]]
[[File:薬局 店内 2016 (27869613603).jpg|thumb|A woman shopping in Japan, 2016]]

'''Shopping''' is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A [[Retail#Shopper profiles|typology of shopper types]] has been developed by scholars which identifies one group of shoppers as recreational shoppers,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=A. Mishra |first=Anubhav |date= |title=Consumer innovativeness and consumer decision styles: a confirmatory and segmentation analysis |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09593969.2014.911199 |journal=The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research |language=en |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=35–54 |doi=10.1080/09593969.2014.911199 |issn=0959-3969|url-access=subscription }}</ref> that is, those who enjoy shopping and view it as a  [[leisure]] activity.<ref name="ReferenceA">Jones, C. and Spang, R., "Sans Culottes, Sans Café, Sans Tabac: Shifting Realms of Luxury and Necessity in Eighteenth-Century France," Chapter 2 in ''Consumers and Luxury: Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650-1850'' Berg, M. and Clifford, H., Manchester University Press, 1999;  Berg, M., "New Commodities, Luxuries and Their Consumers in Nineteenth-Century England," Chapter 3 in ''Consumers and Luxury: Consumer Culture in Europe, 1650-1850'' Berg, M. and Clifford, H., Manchester University Press, 1999</ref>

[[Online shopping]] has become a major disruptor in the retail industry<ref>Dennis, D., "Retail's Single Biggest Disruptor," ''Forbes, 12 June 2017; Online: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/2017/06/12/retails-single-biggest-disruptor-spoiler-alert-its-not-e-commerce/#af35a92227b6; IbisWorld, "E-commerce Disruptors," 23 February 2015; Online: https://www.ibisworld.com/media/2015/02/23/ecommercedistruptors; "Disruptor of the Year 2016: Amazon," ''Campaign Live, 15 December 2015, https://www.campaignlive.com/article/disruptor-year-2016-amazon/1418737; Nielsen, "What's in-Store for Online Grocery Shopping," [Report], January, 2017, Online: http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/nielsenglobal/de/docs/Nielsen%20Global%20Connected%20Commerce%20Report%20January%202017.pdf</ref> as consumers can now search for product information and place product orders across different regions. Online retailers deliver their products directly to the consumers' home, offices, or wherever they want. The [[B2C]] (business to consumer) process has made it easy for consumers to select any product online from a retailer's website and to have it delivered relatively quickly. Using online shopping methods, consumers do not need to consume energy by physically visiting physical stores. This way they save time and the cost of traveling. A [[retailer]] or a shop is a [[business]] that presents a selection of goods and offers to trade or sell them to [[customer]]s for money or other goods.

Shoppers' shopping [[user experience|experience]]s may vary. They are based on a variety of factors including how the customer is treated, convenience, the type of goods being purchased, and mood.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Arnold|first= Mark J.|author2= Kristy E. Reynolds |author3= Nicole Ponderc |author4= Jason E. Lueg |title= Customer delight in a retail context: investigating delightful and terrible shopping experiences|journal= Journal of Business Research|date= August 2005|volume= 58|issue= 8|pages= 1132–1145|doi= 10.1016/j.jbusres.2004.01.006}}</ref>

==History==
{{Further|Retail#History}}
===Antiquity===
[[File:Roma-mercati di traiano2.jpg|thumb|Remains of marketplace and retail shops at Trajan's Forum in Rome]]
In antiquity, [[marketplace]]s and [[fair]]s were established to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. People would shop for goods at a regular market in nearby towns. However, the transient nature of stalls and stall-holders meant the consumers needed to make careful inspection of goods prior to purchase. In [[ancient Greece]], the [[agora]] served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods.<ref>Engen, Darel. “The Economy of Ancient Greece”. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples, July 31, 2004. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-economy-of-ancient-greece/</ref>

[[Ancient Rome]] utilized a similar marketplace known as the [[forum (Roman)|forum]]. Rome had two forums; the [[Roman forum|Forum Romanum]] and [[Trajan's Forum]]. [[Trajan's Market]] at Trajan's forum, built around 100-110CE,  was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with [[taberna]]e that served as retail shops, situated on four levels.<ref name="Coleman, P. 2006, p. 28">Coleman, P., ''Shopping Environments,'' Elsevier, Oxford, 2006, p. 28</ref>  The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront.<ref name="Coleman, P. 2006, p. 28"/>  In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Those who lived on the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating their need to attend local markets.<ref>Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity," In ''Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums,'' Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, p. 229</ref>

[[Shopping list]]s are known to have been used by Romans. One such list was discovered near [[Hadrian's Wall]] dated back to 75–125 [[Common Era|CE]] and written for a soldier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s253805.htm|title=Roman shopping list deciphered|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=2001-03-05|access-date=2007-09-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080303020753/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s253805.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-03-03}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Fotothek df tg 0007616 Medizin ^ Apotheke.jpg|thumb|left|An early 17th-century shop, with customers being served through an opening onto the street]]

Archaeological evidence suggests that the British engaged in minimal shopping in the early [[Middle Ages]]. Instead, they provided for their basic needs through subsistence farming practices and a system of localised personal exchanges.<ref>Schofield, J. and Vince, A.G., ''Medieval Towns: The Archaeology of British Towns in Their European Setting,''A&C Black, 2003, p.151</ref> However, by the late Middle Ages, consumers turned to markets for the purchase of fresh produce, meat and fish and the periodic fairs where non-perishables and [[luxury goods]] could be obtained.<ref>Dye, C., ''Everyday Life in Medieval England,''  A & C Black, 2001, p.257</ref> Women were responsible for everyday household purchases, but most of their purchasing was of a mundane nature. For the main part, shopping was seen as a chore rather than a pleasure.<ref>By Jane Whittle, Elizabeth Griffiths ''Consumption and Gender in the Early Seventeenth-Century Household: The World of Alice Le Strange,'' Oxford University Press, 2012, pp 9- 11</ref>

Relatively few permanent shops were to be found outside the most populous cities. Instead customers walked into the tradesman's workshops where they discussed purchasing options directly with tradesmen.<ref>Thrupp, S.L., ''The Merchant Class of Medieval London, 1300–1500,'' pp. 7–8</ref> Itinerant vendors such as costermongers, hucksters and peddlers operated alongside markets, providing the convenience of home delivery to households, and especially to geographically isolated communities.<ref>Jones, P.T.A., "Redressing Reform Narratives: Victorian London's Street Markets and the Informal Supply Lines of Urban Modernity," ''The London Journal'', Vol 41, No. 1, 2006, pp 64–65</ref>

In the more populous European cities, a small number of shops were beginning to emerge by the 13th century. Specialist retailers such as mercers and haberdashers were known to exist in London, while grocers sold "miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines." However, these shops were primitive. As late as the 16th century, London's shops were described as little more than "rude booths."<ref>Knight, C., ''London,'' Vol. 5, 1841, Knight & Co, London, p. 132</ref>

The medieval shopper's experience was very different from that of the contemporary shopper. Interiors were dark and shoppers had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise prior to consumption. Glazed windows in retail environments, were virtually unknown during the medieval period. Goods were rarely out on display; instead retailers kept the merchandise at the rear of the store and would only bring out items on request. The service counter was virtually unknown and instead, many stores had openings onto the street from which they served customers.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England,'' Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p. 155</ref>

In Britain, medieval attitudes to retailing and shopping were negative. Retailers were no better than hucksters, because they simply resold goods, by buying cheaper and selling dearer, without adding value of national accounts. Added to this were concerns about the self-interest of retailers and some of their more unethical practices. Attitudes to spending on luxury goods also attracted criticism, since it involved importing goods which did little to stimulate national accounts, and interfered with the growth of worthy local manufacturers.<ref>Cox, N., "'Beggary of the Nation': Moral, Economic and Political Attitudes to the Retail Sector in the Early Modern Period", in: John Benson and Laura Ugolini, ''A Nation of Shopkeepers: Five Centuries of British Retailing'', London,  I.B. Taurus, 2003, pp 25-51</ref>

===Shopping for pleasure===
The modern phenomenon of shopping for pleasure is closely linked to the emergence of a middle class in the 17th and 18th-century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or [[bourgeoisie]] stimulated demand for luxury goods and began to purchase a wider range of luxury goods and imported goods, including: Indian [[cotton]] and calico; silk, [[tea]] and porcelain from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.<ref>Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., ''The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Century,'' Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992</ref> The act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pastime or form of entertainment.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

By the 17th-century, produce markets gradually gave way to shops and shopping centres; which changed the consumer's shopping experience.<ref>Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., ''Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England,'' Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p,. 129</ref> The New Exchange, opened in 1609 by [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Robert Cecil]] in the [[Strand, London|Strand]] was one such example of a planned shopping centre. Shops started to become important as places for Londoners to meet and socialise and became popular destinations alongside the theatre. [[English Restoration|Restoration]] London also saw the growth of luxury buildings as advertisements for social position with speculative architects like [[Nicholas Barbon]] and [[Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex|Lionel Cranfield]].
[[File:The Fable of the Bees (1705).jpg|thumb|right|[[Bernard Mandeville]]'s work ''[[The Fable of the Bees]]'', which justified conspicuous consumption.]]
Much pamphleteering of the time was devoted to justifying conspicuous consumption and private vice for luxury goods for the greater public good. This then scandalous line of thought caused great controversy with the publication of [[Bernard Mandeville]]'s influential work ''[[Fable of the Bees]]'' in 1714, in which he argued that a country's prosperity ultimately lay in the self-interest of the consumer.<ref>Peck, Linda, "Consuming Splendor: Society and Culture in Seventeenth-Century England", Cambridge Press, 2005; Gunor, B.,  "A Research Regarding the Importance of Bernard Mandeville's Article: The Fable of Bees," ''Journal of Art and Language'', Vol. 5, pp 521–536, 10.7816/idil-05-22-01</ref>

These trends gathered momentum in the 18th century, as rising prosperity and social mobility increased the number of people with disposable income for consumption. Important shifts included the marketing of goods for individuals as opposed to items for the household, and the new status of goods as [[status symbol]]s, related to changes in fashion and desired for aesthetic appeal, as opposed to just their utility. The [[pottery]] inventor and [[entrepreneur]], [[Josiah Wedgewood]], pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence and manipulate the direction of the prevailing tastes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf|title=Coming to live in a consumer society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222240/http://www.quarc.de/fileadmin/downloads/Coming%20to%20live%20in%20a%20consumer%20society%20%28chapter%202%29.pdf|archive-date=2013-08-10}}</ref> One of his preferred sales techniques was to stage expansive showcases of wares in this private residences or in a rented hall, to which he invited the upper classes.<ref>McKendrick, N., Brewer, J. and Plumb . J.H., ''The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth Century England,'' London, 1982.</ref>

As the 18th-century progressed, a wide variety of goods and manufactures were steadily made available for the urban middle and upper classes. This growth in consumption led to the rise of 'shopping' - a proliferation of retail shops selling particular goods and the acceptance of shopping as a cultural activity in its own right. Specific streets and districts became devoted to retail, including the [[Strand, London|Strand]] and [[Piccadilly]] in London.<ref name="BLibrary">{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/georgians/material/materialculture.html|title=Material Culture: Getting and Spending|publisher=British Library}}</ref>
[[File:Royal Arcade, Sydney, 1892 from Photographs of Sydney and New South Wales, ca.1892-1900 New South Wales Government Printer.jpg|thumb|Royal Arcade, Sydney, 1892]]
The rise of window shopping as a recreational activity accompanied the use of glass windows in retail shop-fronts. By the late eighteenth century, grand shopping arcades began to emerge across Britain, Europe and in the Antipodes in what became known as the "arcade era."<ref>Lemoine, B., ''Les Passages Couverts'', Paris: Délégation à l'action artistique de la ville de Paris [AAVP], 1990. {{ISBN|9782905118219}}.</ref> Typically, these arcades had a roof constructed of glass to allow for natural light and to reduce the need for candles or electric lighting. Inside the arcade, individual stores were fitted with long glass exterior windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies, even when they may not have been able to afford the high retail prices.<ref>Byrne-Paquet, L., ''The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping,''ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, pp. 90–93</ref>

Designed to attract the genteel middle class, retailers sold luxury goods at relatively high prices. However, prices were never a deterrent, as these new arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from the chaos of daily street life; a place shoppers could socialise and spend their leisure time. As thousands of glass covered arcades spread across Europe, they became grander and more ornately decorated. By the mid nineteenth century, promenading in these arcades became a popular pastime for the emerging middle classes.<ref>Woodward, R.B., [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/travel/11culture.html "Making a Pilgrimage to Cathedrals of Commerce"], ''New York Times,'' 11 March 2007,</ref>

In Europe, the Palais-Royal, which opened in 1784, became one of the earliest examples of the new style of shopping arcade, frequented by both the aristocracy and the middle classes. It developed a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation, revolving around the salons, cafés, and bookshops, but also became a place frequented by off-duty soldiers and was a favourite haunt of prostitutes, many of whom rented apartments in the building.<ref>Mitchell, I., ''Tradition and Innovation in English Retailing, 1700 to 1850,'' Routledge, Oxon, p. 140</ref>  In London, one of the first to use [[display window]]s in shops was retailer, [[Francis Place]], who experimented with this new retailing method at his tailoring establishment in [[Charing Cross]], where he fitted the shop-front with large plate glass windows. Although this was condemned by many, he defended his practice in his memoirs, claiming that he:
:sold from the window more goods...than paid journeymen's wages and the expenses of housekeeping.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TEEaCrPiWsC&q=Robertson%27s+Book+of+Firsts:+Who+Did+What+For+the+First+Time|title=Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time|author=Patrick Robertson
|year=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|access-date=2013-02-07|isbn=9781608197385}}</ref>

Retailers designed attractive shop fronts to entice patronage, using bright lights, advertisements and attractively arranged goods. The goods on offer were in a constant state of change, due to the frenetic change in [[fashion]]s. A foreign visitor commented that [[London]] was "a world of gold and silver plate, then pearls and gems shedding their dazzling lustre, home manufactures of the most exquisite taste, an ocean of rings, watches, chains, bracelets, perfumes, ready-dresses, ribbons, lace, bonnets, and fruits from all the zones of the habitable world".<ref name="BLibrary" />
[[File:Au Bon Marché (vue générale - gravure).jpg|thumb|240px|left|{{lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}}, founded in Paris, offered a wide variety of goods in "departments" inside one building, from 1851.]]

===Evolution of stores: from arcades to department stores===
In the second half of the 19th-century, shops transitioned from 'single-function' shops selling one type of good, to the [[department store]] where a large variety of goods were sold. As economic growth, fueled by the [[Industrial Revolution]] at the turn of the 19th-century, steadily expanded, the affluent bourgeois middle-class grew in size and wealth. This urbanized social group was the catalyst for the emergence of the retail revolution of the period.

The term, "department store" originated in the United States. In 19th century England, these stores were known as emporia or warehouse shops.<ref>Koot, G.M., [https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf "Shops and Shopping in Britain: from market stalls to chain stores"], University of Dartmouth, 2011,</ref> A number of major department stores opened across the US, Britain and Europe from the mid nineteenth century including; Harrod's of London in 1834; Kendall's in Manchester in 1836; [[Selfridges]] of London in 1909; Macy's of New York in 1858; [[Bloomingdale's]] in 1861; [[Sak's Fifth Avenue|Sak's]] in 1867; [[J.C. Penney]] in 1902; {{lang|fr|[[Le Bon Marché]]|italic=no}} of France in 1852 and [[Galeries Lafayette]] of France in 1905.

The first reliably dated department store to be established, was Harding, Howell & Co, which opened in 1796 on [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hibiscus-sinensis.com/regency/shoppingmalls.htm|title=Regency Shopping}}</ref> This venture was described as being a public retail establishment offering a wide range of [[consumer good]]s in different departments. This pioneering shop was closed down in 1820 when the [[business partnership]] was dissolved. Department stores were established on a large scale from the 1840s and 50s, in France, the United Kingdom and the US. French retailer, Le Bon Marche, is an example of a department store that has survived into current times  Originally founded in 1838 as a lace and haberdashery store, it was revamped mid-century and opened as a department store in 1852.<ref name="culture.gouv">Jacques Marseille, [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/celebrations2002/bonmarche.htm "Naissance des grands magasins: Le Bon Marché"],  Ministry of Culture of France, (in French)</ref>

Many of the early department stores were more than just a retail emporium; rather they were venues where shoppers could spend their leisure time and be entertained. Some department stores offered reading rooms, art galleries and concerts. Most department stores had tea-rooms or dining rooms and offered treatment areas where ladies could indulge in a manicure. The fashion show, which originated in the US in around 1907, became a staple feature event for many department stores and celebrity appearances were also used to great effect. Themed events featured wares from foreign shores, exposing shoppers to the exotic cultures of the Orient and Middle-East.<ref>Howard Moss, M., ''Shopping as an Entertainment Experience,'' Plymouth, Lexington Books, pp. 35–39</ref>

==Shopping venues==
{{multiple image
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 | caption4 = [[Fashion Center]]. Four different shopping malls near [[New York City]] in [[Paramus, New Jersey|Paramus]], [[Bergen County, New Jersey|Bergen County]], [[New Jersey]], U.S., the top American retailing hub with $6 billion in sales annually. Each mall employs a different [[strategic planning|retail strategy]] to grow and thrive.
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{{Further|Retail format}}
===Shopping hubs===
A larger commercial [[zoning|zone]] can be found in many cities, more formally called a [[central business district]], but more commonly called "[[downtown]]" in the United States, or the "high street" in Britain, and [[souk]]s in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] speaking areas.

Shopping hubs, or [[shopping center]]s, are collections of stores; that is a grouping of several [[business]]es in a compact geographic area. It consists of a collection of retail, entertainment and service stores designed to serve products and services to the surrounding region.

Typical examples include [[shopping mall]]s, [[town square]]s, [[flea markets]] and [[bazaars]].

Traditionally, shopping hubs were called [[bazaar]]s or [[marketplace]]s; an assortment of stalls lining streets selling a large variety of goods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bazaar|title=the definition of bazaar|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=2016-03-30}}</ref>

The modern shopping centre is now different from its antecedents, the stores are commonly in individual buildings or compressed into one large structure (usually called ''Mall'' in the USA).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-shopping.html|title=shopping center Facts, information, pictures {{!}} Encyclopedia.com articles about shopping center|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2016-03-30}}</ref>

The first modern shopping mall in the US was The [[Country Club Plaza]] in Kansas City which opened in 1922, from there the first enclosed mall was designed by Victor [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GruenVic.html Gruen] and opened in 1956 as [[Southdale Center|Southdale Centre]] in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Malls peaked in America in the 1980s-1990s when many larger malls (more than 37,000 sq m in size) were built, attracting consumers from within a 32&nbsp;km radius with their luxurious department stores.<ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/shopping_center.aspx#1-1E1:shopping-full|title=shopping center Facts, information, pictures {{!}} Encyclopedia.com articles about shopping center|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2016-03-30}}</ref>

Different types of malls can be found around the world. ''[[Super-regional mall|Superregional malls]]'' are very large malls that contain at least five department stores and 300 shops. This type of mall attracts consumers from a broad radius (up to a 160-km). A ''regional mall'' can contain at least two department stores or "[[anchor store]]s".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/anchor+store|title=anchor store|website=TheFreeDictionary.com|access-date=2016-03-30}}</ref> One of the biggest malls in the world is the one near [[Miami]], called "Sawgrass Mills Mall": it has 2,370,610 square feet (220,237 m2) of retail selling space, with over 329 retail outlets and name brand discounters.

The smaller malls are often called open-air strip centres or mini-marts and are typically attached to a grocery store or supermarket.

The smaller malls are less likely to include the same features of a large mall such as an indoor concourse, but are beginning to evolve to become enclosed to comply with all weather and customer preferences.<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>

===Stores===
[[File:Deb Haaland holiday shopping in Albuquerque in 2019. 03.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Deb Haaland]] shopping at a [[thrift store]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] in 2019.]]
Stores are divided into multiple categories of stores which sell a selected set of goods or services. Usually they are tiered by target demographics based on the [[disposable income]] of the shopper. They can be tiered from cheap to pricey.

Some shops sell secondhand goods. Often the public can also sell goods to such shops. In other cases, especially in the case of a [[nonprofit]] shop, the public donates goods to these shops, commonly known as [[thrift store]]s in the United States, [[charity shop]]s in the United Kingdom, or [[op shop]]s in Australia and New Zealand. In [[give-away shop]]s goods can be taken for free. In antique shops, the public can find goods that are older and harder to find. Sometimes people are broke and borrow money from a [[pawn shop]] using an item of value as [[Collateral (finance)|collateral]]. College students are known to resell books back through college textbook [[bookstore]]s. Old used items are often distributed through [[surplus store]]s.

Various types of retail stores that specialize in the selling of goods related to a theme include [[bookstore]]s, [[boutique]]s, [[confectionery store|candy shop]]s, [[liquor store]]s, [[gift shop]]s, [[hardware store]]s, [[hobby store]]s, [[pet store]]s, [[pharmacy|pharmacies]], [[sex shop]]s and [[supermarket]]s.

Other stores such as [[big-box store]]s, [[hypermarket]]s, [[convenience store]]s, department stores, [[general store]]s, [[dollar store]]s sell a wider variety of products not [[horizontal market|horizontally]] related to each other.

====Home shopping====
{{main|Home shopping}}
Home [[mail delivery]] systems and modern technology (such as television, telephones, and the Internet), in combination with [[electronic commerce]], allow consumers to shop from home. There are three main types of home shopping: [[mail order|mail]] or telephone ordering from catalogs; telephone ordering in response to advertisements in print and electronic media (such as [[periodicals]], TV and radio); and [[online shopping]]. Online shopping has completely redefined the way people make their buying decisions; the Internet provides access to a lot of information about a particular product, which can be looked at, evaluated, and comparison-priced at any given time. Online shopping allows the buyer to save the time and expense, which would have been spent traveling to the store or mall. According to technology and research firm Forrester, mobile purchases or mcommerce will account for 49% of ecommerce, or $252 billion in sales, by 2020<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forrester.com/report/Forrester+Research+WebInfluenced+Retail+Sales+Forecast+2015+To+2020+US/-/E-RES129003|title=Forrester Research Web-Influenced Retail Sales Forecast, 2015 To 2020 (US)|website=www.forrester.com|access-date=2016-11-29}}</ref>

====Neighborhood shopping====
Convenience stores are common in North America, and are often called "bodegas" in Spanish-speaking communities or "[[dépanneur]]s" in French-speaking ones. Sometimes [[peddler]]s and [[ice cream truck]]s pass through neighborhoods offering goods and services. Also, [[garage sale]]s are a common form of [[second hand]] resale.

Neighbourhood shopping areas and retailers give value to a community by providing various social and community services (like a [[library]]), and a social place to meet. Neighbourhood retailing differs from other types of retailers such as destination retailers because of the difference in offered products and services, location and popularity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/90690/2c_successful-neighbourhood-shopping-centres.pdf|title=Successful neighbourhood shopping centres|last=Allan|first=Dr Abigail|date=2009|website=Opus Central Laboratories}}</ref> Neighbourhood retailers include stores such as; Food shops/marts, [[dairies]], [[Pharmacy|Pharmacies]], [[Dry cleaning|Dry cleaners]], [[Hairdresser]]s/[[barber]]s, [[Liquor store|Bottle shops]], [[Coffeehouse|Cafés]] and [[Take-out|take-away]] shops . Destination retailers include stores such as; [[Gift shop]]s, [[Antique shop]]s, Pet groomers, [[Engraving|Engravers]], [[Tattoo artist|Tattoo parlour]], [[Local bike shop|Bicycle shops]], Herbal dispensary clinics, [[Art museum|Art galleries]], Office Supplies and framers.  The neighbourhood retailers sell essential goods and services to the residential area they are located in. There can be many groups of neighbourhood retailers in different areas of a region or city, but destination retailers are often part of [[shopping mall]]s where the numbers of consumers is higher than that of a neighbourhood retail area. The destination retailers are becoming more prevalent as they can provide a community with more than the essentials, they offer an experience, and a wider scope of goods and services.

====Party shopping====
The [[party plan]] is a method of marketing products by hosting a social event, using the event to display and demonstrate the product or products to those gathered, and then to take orders for the products before the gathering ends.

==Shopping activity==

===Shopping seasons===
Shopping frenzies are periods of time where a burst of spending occurs, typically near holidays in the United States, with [[Christmas shopping]] being the biggest shopping spending season, starting as early as October and continuing until after Christmas.

Some [[religion]]s regard such spending seasons as being against their faith and dismiss the practice. Many contest the over-commercialization and the response by stores that downplay the shopping season often cited in the [[Christmas controversy|War on Christmas]].

The [[National Retail Federation]] (NRF) also highlights the importance of back-to-school shopping for retailers which comes second behind holiday shopping, when buyers often buy clothing and school supplies for their children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/08/09/news/economy/July_retailsales/index.htm|title=Back-to-school sales' mixed grades|publisher=CNN|work=CNNMoney.com|access-date=2008-01-27 | date=2007-08-09 | first=Parija B. | last=Kavilanz}}</ref> In 2017, Americans spent over $83 billion on back-to-school and back-to-college shopping, according to the NRF annual survey.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nrf.com/resources/consumer-research-and-data/holiday-spending/back-school-headquarters|title=Back-to-School Headquarters|date=2014-07-15|work=National Retail Federation|access-date=2018-01-18|language=en}}</ref>

Seasonal shopping consists of buying the appropriate [[clothing]] for the particular [[season]]. In winter people bundle up in warm layers and coats to keep warm, while in summer people wear less clothing to stay cooler in the heat. Seasonal shopping now revolves a lot around [[holiday]] sales and buying more for less. Stores need to get rid of all of their previous seasonal clothing to make room for the new trends of the upcoming season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.finweb.com/financial-planning/shopping-for-clothes-in-the-off-season.html#axzz44F5YNuf0|title=Shopping for Clothes in the Off-Season - Financial Web|website=www.finweb.com|access-date=2016-03-31}}</ref> The end-of-season sales usually last a few weeks with prices lowering further towards the closing of the sale. During sales items can be discounted from 10% up to as much as 50%, with the biggest reduction sales occurring at the end of the season. Holiday shopping periods are extending their sales further and further with holidays such as [[Black Friday (shopping)|Black Friday]] becoming a month-long event stretching promotions across November . These days shopping doesn't stop once the mall closes, as people have more access to stores and their sales than ever before with the help of the internet and apps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/2014-holiday-shopper-research-shopping-never-sleeps.html|title=2014 Holiday Shopper Research: Shopping Never Sleeps|website=Think with Google|access-date=2016-03-31|archive-date=2016-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401144933/https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/2014-holiday-shopper-research-shopping-never-sleeps.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Today many people research their purchases online to find the cheapest and best deal with one third of all shopping searches on Google happen between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/2014-holiday-shopper-research-shopping-never-sleeps.html|title=2014 Holiday Shopper Research: Shopping Never Sleeps|website=Think with Google|access-date=2016-03-31|archive-date=2016-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401144933/https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/2014-holiday-shopper-research-shopping-never-sleeps.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shoppers are now spending more time consulting different sources before making a final purchasing decision. Shoppers once used an average of five sources for information before making a purchase, but numbers have risen to as high as 12 sources in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/five-holiday-shopping-trends-marketers-should-watch.html|title=Holiday Is (Almost) Here: 5 Shopping Trends Marketers Should Watch in 2014|website=Think with Google|access-date=2016-03-31|archive-date=2016-04-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402052211/https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/five-holiday-shopping-trends-marketers-should-watch.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Spree shopping===
{{redirect|Shopping spree||Shopping Spree (disambiguation)}}
Spree shopping, or ‘going on a shopping spree’, is an individual period of intense and indulgent shopping involving many purchases, which differs from both normal shopping and compulsive shopping in its scope and purpose.<ref>Nina Savelle-Rocklin and Salman Akhtar, ''Beyond the Primal Addiction: Food, Sex, Gambling, Internet, Shopping, and Work'' (2019), p. 129.</ref> One study reportedly showed that the [[pleasure centers]] of the brain were stimulated during a shopping spree similarly to the stimulation experienced during sexual activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/brain-shopping-spree/story?id=30287441 |title=This Is What Your Brain Looks Like on a Shopping Spree|first1=Mara|last1=Schiavocampo|first2=Jackie|last2=Pou|first3=Alexa|last3=Valiente|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=April 13, 2015}}</ref> A shopping spree may be "especially problematic for those whose immediate release of tension is followed by subsequent feelings of guilt, sadness, anger, or despair over what turned out to be an unwanted purchase".<ref>Arthur Neal an dHelen Youngelson Neal, ''Core Values in American Life: Living with Contradictions'' (Routledge, 2017), p. 93.</ref>

==Pricing and negotiation==
{{Further|Pricing|Pricing strategies}}

[[File:Drawing by Marguerite Martyn of Soulard Market, St. Louis, in 1912.jpg|thumb|Sales being made at Soulard Market, St. Louis, Missouri, drawing by [[Marguerite Martyn]], 1912]]
Historically, prices were established through a system of barter or negotiation. The first retailer to adopt fixed prices is thought to be the retailers operating out of the Palais-Royal complex in the 18th-century. These retailers adopted a system of high price maintenance in order to cultivate images of luxury. For their upper class clientele, fixed prices spared them from hassle of bartering.<ref>Byrne-Paquet, L., ''The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping,'' ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, pp. 90–93</ref>

The [[pricing]] technique used by most retailers is ''[[cost-plus pricing]]''. This involves adding a [[markup (business)|markup]] amount (or percentage) to the retailers' cost. Another common technique is ''[[suggested retail price|manufacturers suggested list]]'' pricing. This simply involves charging the amount suggested by the manufacturer and usually printed on the [[product (business)|product]] by the manufacturer.

In retail settings, ''[[psychological pricing]]'' or ''odd-number pricing'' are both widely used. [[Psychological pricing]] which refers to a range of tactics, designed to have a positive psychological impact. For example, price tags using the terminal digit "9" (e.g., 9.99, 19.99, or 199.99) can be used to signal [[price point]]s and bring an item in at just under the consumer's [[reservation price]].<ref>Poundstone, W., ''Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It),'' NY, Hill and Wang, 2011, pp. 184–200</ref> However, in Chinese societies, prices are generally either a round number or sometimes some lucky number. This creates [[price points]].

In a fixed-price system, consumers may still use [[bargaining]] or ''haggling''; a [[negotiation]] about the price. Economists see this as determining how the transaction's total [[economic surplus]] will be divided between consumers and producers. Neither party has a clear advantage because the threat of no sale exists, in which case the surplus would vanish for both.

When [[online shopping|shopping online]], it can be more difficult to negotiate price given that you are not directly interacting with a [[sales|sales person]]. Some consumers use [[price comparison service]]s to locate the best price and/or to make a decision about who or where to buy from to save money.

==="Window shopping"===
{{Main|Window shopping}}

[[File:Window shopping in Cowbridge - geograph.org.uk - 1770681.jpg|alt=Women peer through a shop window on a rainy day|thumb|Window shopping in the rain]]

"Window shopping" is a term referring to the browsing of goods by a consumer with or without the intent to purchase. Window shopping is often practised by a particular segment, known as  the recreation-conscious or hedonistic shopper. Recreational shopping is characterised by the consumer's engagement in the purchase process, and recreational shoppers are those consumers who see the act of shopping as a form of enjoyment.<ref>Sproles, G. B., & Kendall, E. L., "A methodology for profiling consumers' decision-marking styles," ''Journal of Consumer Affairs'', Vol., 20 No. 2, 1986, pp. 267–79</ref> Other consumers use window shopping as part of their planning activity for a later purchase.

[[Showrooming]], the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional retail store without purchasing it, but then shopping online to find a lower price for the same item, has become an increasingly prevalent problem for traditional retailers as a result of online competitors, so much so that some have begun to take measures to combat it.<ref name=Showrooming>{{cite news|last=Bhasin|first=Kim|title=Store Charges Customers $5 'Just Looking' Fee To Combat Showrooming |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/stores-charges-just-looking-fee-2013-3|access-date=2014-08-10|newspaper=Business Insider|date=2013-03-25}}</ref>

==Utility cycling==
In countries like [[Denmark]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[Germany]] the high levels of [[utility cycling]] also includes shopping trips e.g. 9% of all shopping trips in Germany are by bicycle.<ref>[http://www.einkaufen-mit-dem-rad.de/shopping_by_bike.shtml Shopping by bike], BUND Freunde der erde, Landesverband Berlin e.V (Accessed 28 October 2007)</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Price comparison service]] (Internet shopping)
* [[Marketing]]
* [[Retail]]
* [[Retailing]]
* [[Selling]]
* [[Trade]]
* [[Window shopping]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikivoyage}}
{{Commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* Jan Hein Furnee and Clé Lesger, ''The Landscape of Consumption: Shopping Streets and Cultures in Western Europe, 1600–1900,'' Springer, 2014.
* {{cite book | author = Pamela Klaffke | date = 2003 | title = Spree: A Cultural History of Shopping | publisher = arsenal pulp press | pages = | isbn = 978-1-55152-143-5 | oclc = 1036881488 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TNdkota-2ssC}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Shopping (activity)| ]]