Mass-Market Retailer: Definition, Examples, Benefits

What Is a Mass-Market Retailer?

A mass-market retailer, or mass merchandiser, sells large quantities of goods that appeal to a wide variety of consumers. They may not prioritize selling durable, high-quality merchandise or providing exceptional customer service, but they do meet consumers’ needs at reasonable prices.

Examples of mass-market retailers include Target, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, Levi Strauss, Gap, and Amazon. Supermarkets, drugstores, mass merchandise stores, and warehouse chains are also considered mass-market retailers.

Key Takeaways

• Mass-market retailers sell a wide variety of consumer goods in large quantities.
• Their products are generally cheap due to bulk purchasing power.
• Examples of mass-market retailers include Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.

Understanding Mass-Market Retailers

Mass-market retailing is a subsector of the retail trade sector in the United States. This sector includes both traditional brick-and-mortar retailers and online retailers.

Mass-market retailers prioritize large sales volumes and achieving economies of scale to offer lower prices than smaller retailers.

Physical mass-market retailers like Costco, Target, and Walmart have stores with a large footprint. For example, Costco’s warehouse stores average 145,000 square feet. This allows them to offer a huge variety of goods and expand to offer services like in-store pharmacies, optometrists, and audiologists.

Inventory control and supply chain management are critical for a mass-market retailer’s profitability. Successful companies often rely on just-in-time (JIT) inventory strategies to eliminate excess inventory and reduce costs.

Mass-Market Retailers vs. Luxury Retailers

Luxury retailers sell high-end products targeted at wealthy consumers. These products may be financially out of reach for the average consumer.

Sales through mass-market retailers represent a significant portion of consumer goods revenue in the United States. As cities become more densely populated, mass-market retailers may expand into new markets.

In the U.S., mass-market retailers are part of the $5.4 trillion retail trade industry in 2020.

Benefits of Mass-Market Retailers

Mass-market retail chains provide convenience by offering a wide variety of goods at discounted prices in one location.

They can sell products at lower prices due to bulk buying power and larger store size.

Mass-market retailers can also differentiate themselves through their product mix.

Special Considerations

The dynamics of mass-market retail have evolved with online commerce. However, brick-and-mortar retailers have invested in expanding their online platforms to compete with online giants like Amazon.

Major retailers like Walmart and Target now offer online ordering, delivery, and in-store or curbside pickup in response to consumer demand for convenience.