One-stop shop – definition and meaning
A one-stop shop is a place or establishment that offers a wide range of products or services. In fact, it has everything you would want for a particular need. The term relates to how many stops you need to make to satisfy all your needs. If you just need to make one stop, it means that you satisfied all your needs on that one stop.
We typically use the term, one-stop shop, when talking about a specific requirement or sector.
We use the term either for a location or company. What they all have in common is their vast range of services or products.
A one-stop shop aims to provide everything the client might want for a particular need. They also try to sell more goods to customers.
One-stop shop – examples
For example, imagine there is a place – The Bride’s Center – which has everything you need for a wedding. We could say “The Bride’s Center is the ultimate one-stop shop for couples planning a wedding.”
What would a one-stop shop for people who want to sell their house have? It would probably offer real estate services, mortgages, insurance, as well as removal services. It might also do conveyancing.
Conveyancing is the process of moving the legal ownership of property from one person to another. Some lawyers specialize in conveyancing.
Your bank is a one-stop shop
Most retail banks try to become their customers’ center for more than just having accounts. In other words, they aim to provide all the financial needs people might have.
For example, retail banks provide savings and check accounts, mortgages, and loans. They also sell insurance policies and investment vehicles.
If you want investment advice, your bank probably has that service too.
Rather than visiting a separate institution for each financial need, your retail bank saves you a lot of time and effort. Therefore, it is your financial one-stop shop.
A retail bank is a bank that provides services to individual people and small companies.
Video – What is a One-Stop Shop?
A supermarket is a one-stop shop
Grocery retailers were once small shops that sold basic foods. During the last quarter of the twentieth century, they turned into giant retail outlets.
Today’s major supermarket chains sell virtually everything we need for our homes. They also sell stationery for our school-kids, items for our cars, and even clothes.
The one-stop shop features of giant supermarkets suit the lifestyles of modern families. Typically, both parents are working and do not have the time to go to lots of different shops.
According to Phrases.org.uk, the term originated in the United States in the 1920s.
An advert in The Lincoln Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, that came out in 1930 said it all. When explaining why a car repairer was a one-stop shop, the advertiser wrote: “Have it all done in one place. Save your time. Save your money.”