Legal Definitions - retailer

A retailer is a business or individual that sells goods directly to the final consumer for their personal use, rather than selling to other businesses that plan to resell those goods.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a local bakery that sells fresh bread, pastries, and cakes directly to customers who walk in off the street. This bakery is acting as a retailer because it is selling its products directly to individuals who will consume them, not to a restaurant that would then resell the pastries to its own diners.

• Consider an online electronics store that sells smartphones, laptops, and accessories through its website. When an individual purchases a new tablet from this website for their personal use, the online store is functioning as a retailer. It is selling goods directly to the end-user, not to another company that would then distribute the tablets to other stores.

• Think about a large supermarket chain. When you buy groceries like milk, vegetables, or cleaning supplies from one of their stores, the supermarket is operating as a retailer. It provides a wide range of products directly to the public for household consumption, distinguishing itself from a wholesale distributor that might sell large quantities of those same items to restaurants or smaller convenience stores.