retailer

US/ˈɹiteɪlɚ/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,836 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: retailers

A retailer is a business that sells goods to the public. The last step before the thing reaches you.

The chain is wholesaler, distributor, retailer, customer, and the retailer is the only one most people ever deal with. That matters legally, since in Britain your rights over a faulty item are against the retailer rather than the maker. Online retailers now outsell high street ones in several categories. The verb retail means both to sell at that stage and to tell a story in detail.

Definitions of retailer

1nounretailerA business that sells goods directly to the public.B2+
“The retailer offered a refund without arguing.”

Where it comes from

From retail + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 4 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

retailer in the wild

As of 2026 it was the world's biggest online retailer.
Amazon (company)
In 2021, it surpassed Walmart as the world's largest retailer outside of China, supported by its subscription plan, Amazon Prime, which had 200 million subscribers worldwide.
Amazon (company)
Some of the earliest retailers were itinerant peddlers.
Retail
In the digital age, an increasing number of retailers are seeking to reach broader markets by selling through multiple channels, including both brick and mortar and online retailing.
Retail
Finance, Best Buy is the largest specialty retailer in the United States consumer electronics retail industry.
Best Buy

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

retail

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