Cash and carry wholesale represents a type of operation within the wholesale sector. Its main features are summarized best by the following definitions:

• Cash and carry is a form of trade in which goods are sold from a wholesale warehouse operated either on a self-service basis, or on the basis of samples (with the customer selecting from specimen articles using a manual or computerized ordering system but not serving himself) or a combination of the two. Customers (retailers, professional users, caterers, institutional buyers, etc.) settle the invoice on the spot and in cash, and carry the goods away themselves.

• Though wholesalers buy primarily from manufacturers and sell mostly to retailers, industrial users and other wholesalers, they also perform many value added functions. The wholesaler, an intermediary, is used based on principles of specialisation and division of labour as well as contractual efficiency. (OECD -Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development).

• There are significant differences between "classical" sales at the wholesale stage and the cash and carry wholesaler: These differences are based in particular on the fact that customers of the cash and carry wholesaler arrange the transport of the goods themselves and pay for the goods in cash and not on credit. (EU Commission Decision (Kesko/Tuko) of November 20, 1996 (97/277/EC)).

In a retail context, the term has a similar meaning: customers pay cash for the goods they purchase (the retailer does not offer credit accounts) and carry them away themselves (the retailer does not offer delivery service).