An outlet is a store that offers products at promotional prices.
Outlet is a term that the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) does not include in its dictionary . The concept, however, is frequently used in our language to name the store that offers products from one or more brands at a promotional price .
For example: “Will you accompany me to the shoe outlet? I want to buy some new shoes” , “Marta always visits the outlet on the avenue to see the offers” , “The sports clothing company opened a new outlet in the shopping center” .
Types of outlet
In some cases, the outlet specializes in a single brand . In this way, whoever enters a Nike , Puma or Reebok outlet, to name three possibilities, will find a wide variety of proposals from each manufacturer.
Another option is for the outlet to be oriented towards a type of product (such as footwear, football shirts or coats), marketing clothing from different companies. If we visit a shirt outlet , we will have numerous models of this item available, manufactured by different companies.
Typically, an outlet offers products on sale and at a discount. In some cases, second selection items are sold: faulty , discontinued, etc. This allows prices to be lower compared to regular stores.
An outlet can be a website dedicated to e-commerce.
A response to the crisis
When an economic crisis affects millions of families, the presence of stores specialized in offering products at affordable prices becomes a necessity. The outlet is not the answer to all problems, since it does not always have the items that the public is looking for; However, since their catalog is constantly changing, almost all types of products pass through their shelves throughout the year.
Some supermarket chains have created their own outlet sections within their larger establishments, to offer a wide selection of discounted products. It is worth mentioning that these are the same items that can normally be found in the store , but with considerably lower prices, either due to manufacturing defects or simply to encourage commercial movement. It is highly advisable to visit this section before exploring the rest of the supermarket.
A peculiarity of outlets is that, in general, they present their products in such a way that interested parties can appreciate and analyze them on their own, without having to go to a salesperson or customer service staff. This speeds up the purchasing process since the person can choose what they want and bring it to the checkout to pay for their purchase.
This can be negative when the greater freedom granted to the public translates into greater disorder of the products and lack of care when handling them. When going to an outlet, it is important to keep in mind that many times we will be forced to buy an item whose packaging has been damaged .
online outlet
To increase that feeling of comfort and independence so typical of markets of this type , online outlets were born, a series of virtual stores that offer all types of products with interesting discounts, available from the comfort of your home.
Those who know how to look for and wait for the best prices are always attentive to outlet offers since, with the exception of very specific or high- end products, it is very likely that they will find them in their catalogs sooner or later.
Other uses of the notion
The term outlet has more than one meaning in English, one of which is equivalent to the use we give it in Spanish. In the United States , for example, it can be used to talk about the electrical outlet (also known as a power outlet or socket ); That is, the device that is generally mounted on the wall and that has two or more holes to connect with a plug and power a device with electricity.
The word outlet, likewise, can also mean exit, mouth, drain and middle.