A Boutique and Retail Store: the Differences that You Should Know

Some of us might wonder what makes a shop get called a boutique. By this, I mean why is it not called a store like other shops. What makes a boutique so different from all the other shops? To understand this we need to first know what a boutique is. A boutique is a French word for shop (we will refer to it as a specialized shop in the article) and it sells clothing and jewellery among other expensive things. Their products are usually stylish and of a particular brand. The differences between a boutique and a retail store are as follows: 

 

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- Size of the business 

Boutiques and retail stores can be differentiated based on the size of the store. These specialized shops are usually small when compared to the retail stores. The shops tend to take up small space in malls and rarely ever do they stand alone. Retail stores, on the other hand tend to be big and take up large spaces. 

- Product variety 

The retail stores tend to have a large variety of products. This means that they sell different kinds of products. You can see this when you visit the big retail chains. There you see section upon section of different products. This is different from a specialized shop. They usually sell a smaller variety of products. Some of them tend to stick to a particular type of product. 

- Types of products sold 

This tends to be different from the product variety. This is because now the focus is on the product sold .The retailers offer more of a variety so they sell many things from Electronics, food to even clothing. The specialized shops on the other hand usually cater to only one specialty. This is usually in the fashion industry. It is because of this that the shops tend to cater more to the high end buyers. 

CONCLUSION 

Boutiques tend to be different from retail stores. They are well known for catering more to the fashion industry. Products from these kinds of shops tend to be more expensive. This is because they are usually from a particular high end brand. If ever in need of jewellery or stylish clothing then a boutique would be the place to go.