(i) High cost of operation :
(1) A departmental store requires a large building with ample parking at a central place. It has to incur heavy expenditure on salaries, maintenance of building, customer services, advertising, etc
(2) As a result, establishment and overhead cost of operation are very high
(ii) Higher Prices:
(i) Due to high operating costs, prices of goods in a departmental store are comparatively high.
(ii) Only rich persons can afford to buy goods at a departmental store.
(iii) Distance:
It is located at a central place of a city, away from people living in suburban areas have to travel a long distance to reach the store.
(iv) Lack of Personal Touch:
(i) The management of a store finds it very difficult to maintain personal contact with the consumers.
(ii) The salaried staff may not take interest in securing the satisfaction and goodwill of the consumers.
(v) Difficult to Establish:
A large amount of Capital investment and a large number of specialised persons are required to establish a departmental store.
(vi) High Risk:
Due to Central Location and large-scale operations, risk of loss is very high. Moreover, change in tastes and fashion and market fluctuations may lead to heavy loss

(i) Convenience of Buying:
(1) The Departmental stores provide great convenience to all the members in a family buying almost all goods of their requirements at one place.
(2) A large variety of goods available in all the departments enable customers to save time and no need to run from one place to another to complete their shopping.
(ii) Attractive Service:
It aims at providing maximum services and facilities to the customers such as home delivery of goods, execution of Telephone orders, rest rooms, restaurants, saloons, children game centres, etc.
(iii) Central Location :
These stores are usually located at Central places so that more people can approach easily.
(iv) Elimination of Middlemen:
(1) A Departmental store combines both the functions of retailing as well as warehousing.
(2) They purchase directly from manufacturers and operate separate warehouses. It helps in eliminating undesirable middlemen between the producers and consumers.
(v) Economics of Large scale operations:
The departmental stores are organised at a large scale i.e. buy goods in bulk, therefore they enjoy the benefit of special discount. In turn, the customers get their goods in quality and lower price.

(i) Pedlers and Hawkers :
(1) Peddlers are individuals who sell their goods by carrying on their head or shoulders moving from place to place on foot.
(2) Hawkers are petty retailers who sell their goods at various places such as bus stop, Railway Station, Public park and Gardens, residential areas and other Public places using a convenient vehicle to carry goods from place to place.
(ii) Street Vendors:
The traders sit on the foot path of the road or at the end of the road (pavement) and sell their goods such as fruits, vegetables, books, etc. are called Street vendors.
(iii) Market Traders:
(1) Small Traders open their shops at different places on Fixed days or dates such as every Sunday or alternative Wednesday and so on.
(2) They deal in one particular line of merchandise and in low priced consumer items of daily use. Examples : Pollachi, Manapparai, Ranipet, etc.
(iv) Cheap Jacks :
(1) Those retailers who have independent shops of temporary nature in a business locality are depending upon the potentiality of the area.
(2) They deal in consumer goods and services such as Shoes, and Chappals, Plastic items, Repair of Watches, etc.

(i) Street Stalls:
These small shop-keepers are commonly found at street crossings or other busy street corners to attract floating customers and deal in cheap variety of goods like hosiery products, toys, soft drinks, etc. They set their supplies from local Suppliers and Wholesalers.
(ii) General Stores:
(1) General Stores sell a wide variety of products under one roof, most commonly found in a local Market and residential areas to satisfy the day-to-day needs of the customer residing in nearby localities.
(2) They remain open for long hours at convenient timings and often provide credit facilities to their regular customers. For Example: a provision store deals- in grocery, bread, butter, toothpaste, soaps, Washing Powder, Soft drinks, confectionery, stationery, cosmetics, etc.
(iii) Single line stores:
(1) Single line stores are small shops which deal in a particular line of products such as garments, stationery, textiles, medicines, shoes, etc.
(2) They are generally situated in market places and deal in a variety of goods in that line of product.
(iv) Speciality stores:
(1) Speciality stores deal in a particular type of product under one product line only.
(2) For Example sweet shops specialised in Tirunelveli Halwa, Bengali Sweets etc.
(v) Seconds Shops:
These shops deal with second-hand goods or used articles in a low price such as books, furniture, utensils, Cloths, automobiles, etc. and also new defective goods.