What are retail goods?
Retail goods are goods that are defined by their physical properties. These goods can be touched – content goods (eg. intangible goods) are the opposite. The latter are digital goods and not physically available goods. The categorization into retail goods and content goods is important for commerce on the Internet. Retail goods are ordered on the Internet but delivered by mail, while content goods are often downloaded.
Characteristics of retail goods
In addition to their physical characteristics, retail goods are also essentially characterized by the fact that they are available in material form. Thus, services such as a spa treatment are also excluded. Retail goods include, for example, books, CDs and DVDs, furniture, jewelry and other items. To determine whether a good also meets the definition of retail goods, the question can be asked whether it can be physically touched. Digital goods are therefore excluded from this and correspond to the category of content goods. This includes, for example, downloaded videos or music files. However, if these files are burned onto a CD, they again meet the definition of retail goods.
Retail goods in retail and e-commerce
When shopping in a retail store, all goods placed in the shopping basket are by definition retail goods – whether that is jewelry, computer accessories or clothing. When shopping in an online store, this distinction is a bit more difficult, but again, all physically tangible goods are considered retail goods. Basically, all goods that require physical delivery are retail goods in this context.
