The Commercial Operations Of Chapmen In 17th And 18th Century England

Business is an important driver of social development.Chapmen played an important role in the development of British retail industry.The group included hawkers who walked around the country,and shopkeepers who owned various shops.There were a scattering of chapmen throughout the England,they covered districts which had previously not been well-served.Thanks for them,the supply of goods for the whole country was greatly increased,and the credit mechanism got a significant opportunity to grow up.Gradually,the consumption had become a leisure mode in the life of ordinary British people.From the perspective of economic social history,this paper focuses on the influence of the commercial operations of British chapmen in 17 th and 18 th centuries.The main body of this paper consists of four parts.The first part discusses the selling form,quantity and migration characteristics of chapmen.A great number of them moved from one part of the country to another very frequently,traveling became a way of their life.However,there were still some chapmen who engaged in business at fixed sites in the meantime.The second part discusses the types and structure of goods sold by those chapmen.There were many kinds of goods sold by these chapmen,and the proportion of non-life necessities is increasing gradually.Some luxury goods even appeared in the bottom of society in poor quality and cheap form.The third part discusses the skills of these retailers in attracting customers and promoting products,there were various advertising forms,they tried their best to design and decorate.Most of them were good at assessing their customers' behaving,judging which type of things they would like to buy,They were eloquent,and of course,they adhered to the sales concept of Customer First.All those things enriched the consumption activity during this period.The fourth part discusses the influence of the business activities of the chapmen on the British society.The large group and their commercial operations had greatly promoted the social commodity supply and the development of the credit mechanism.They propelled the consumption became a kind of entertainment,pushed the process of the British social civilization.It can be concluded from the above discussion that the operation of British chapmen in the 17 th and 18 th centuries is of great significance to the transformation and development of British society.