Editing Economy of Iran (section)

==== Retail and distribution ====
{{Main|l1=Retail industry in Iran|l2=Electronic commerce in Iran|Industry of Iran#Retail industry|Communications in Iran#Electronic commerce}}

[[Industry of Iran#Retail industry|Iran's retail industry]] consists largely of cooperatives (many of them [[Bonyad|government-sponsored]]), and independent retailers operating in [[bazaar]]s. The bulk of food sales occur at street markets with prices set by the Chief Statistics Bureau. Iran has 438,478 small grocery retailers.<ref name="Euromonitor" /> These are especially popular in cities other than Tehran where the number of hypermarkets and supermarkets is still very limited. More mini-markets and supermarkets are emerging, mostly independent operations. The biggest chainstores are state-owned Etka, [[Refah supermarket|Refah]], [[Shahrvand Chain Stores Inc.|Shahrvand]] and [[Iran Hyper Star|Hyperstar Market]].<ref name="Euromonitor">{{cite web |url = http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_Iran |title = Retailing in Iran |publisher = Euromonitor |date = January 2010 |access-date = November 28, 2010 |archive-date = February 28, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100228081735/http://www.euromonitor.com/Retailing_in_Iran }}</ref> [[Electronic commerce in Iran]] passed the $1 billion mark in 2009.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090110154827/http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0812030911192309.htm Iran's e-commerce to reach rls 10,000 billion]. IRNA, December 3, 2008.</ref>

In 2012, Iranians spent $77 billion on food, $22 billion on clothes and $18.5 billion on [[Tourism in Iran#Outward tourism|outward tourism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title = Western Companies See Potential in Reaching Iran's Consumers After Nuclear Deal |journal = Wall Street Journal |date = April 6, 2015 |first = Asa |last = Fitch |author2 = Nicolas Parasie |url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/western-companies-see-potential-in-reaching-irans-consumers-after-nuclear-deal-1428313107?cb=logged0.5079263212005186 |access-date = April 9, 2015 }}</ref> In 2015, overall [[consumer spending]] and [[disposable income]] are projected at $176.4 billion and $287 billion respectively.<ref>{{Cite journal |title = In Iran, Business Deals Rarely Smooth |journal = Wall Street Journal |url-access=subscription |date = July 15, 2015 |access-date = July 27, 2015 |first = Benoit |last = Faucon |url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-iran-business-deals-rarely-smooth-1436917050 }}</ref>