Forms of Market - Introduction, Meaning, Forms, and FAQs (2024)

In a bigger market area like our country, there can operate many different types of Market. India is a country of varied types of people, with different tastes and styles, and hence entering in Indian market results in a varied outgrowth. Thus, different forms of the market find the best place to thrive in our country.

There are many markets where exists a large number of buyers and a lesser number of sellers. Incredibly! there is also a large number of sellers while a single buyer! We will study these amazing markets in this content. Without further ado let us delve into the forms of market.

Introduction of the Market Structure

The market is introduced as a structure that is for the societal benefit of the society. The market structure consists of various forms of market, the forms are characterized according to the nature and the degree of competition that exists in the market for the goods and services. The structure of the market both for the goods market and the service or the factor market is to be judged by the nature of competition that is prevailing in a particular type of market.

The Market form is a state that is resultant for the quality or the effectiveness of market competition that is prevailing in the market. There are seven main market forms:

What is the meaning of Market?

A market can be defined as a place where two parties can gather, which will facilitate the exchange of goods and services. The parties that are involved are usually the buyers and sellers. A market is a physical form like a retail outlet, where the sellers and buyers can meet face-to-face, or in a virtual form like an online market, where there is an absence of direct physical contact between the buyers and sellers.

‘Market’ is a term used in many instances like the securities market or the normal physical market where the people come together for the procedure of buying and selling.

Forms of Market in Economics

The variety of market structures characterizes an economy. These market structures essentially refer to the degree of competition in a market.

The other determinants of market structures include the nature of the goods and product, the number of sellers, the number of consumers, the nature of the product or the services, economies of scale, etc. Let us discuss the basic types of market structures in any economy.

1. Perfect Competition

In a perfect competition type of market structure, there is a large number of buyers and sellers, where each of them is competing against each other. There is no big or influential seller in the market. Hence the sellers in this market are known as price takers.

2. Monopolistic Competition

This competition is a realistic scenario. In monopolistic competition, there are a large number of buyers as well as sellers. But the difference is that they all do not sell hom*ogeneous products. The products are similar but all sellers sell differentiated products. The sellers here can charge a marginally higher price as they enjoy a dominant position in this form of market structure.

3. Oligopoly

In an oligopoly structure, few firms are existing in the market. In this type of market structure, the buyers are far greater than the sellers. The firms in the case of Oligopoly, either compete with another or collaborate. They use their market influence to set the prices and then maximize their profits. So, here the consumers become the price takers. In an oligopoly, there are various barriers to entry into the market, and new firms find it difficult to establish their foothold in this type of market structure.

4. Monopoly

In a monopoly type of market structure, there is a single seller, here this single seller means the single firm will control the entire market structure. It can set any determined price of its wishes since it has all the market power under its dominance. The consumers do not have any alternative to paying the price set by the seller.

Monopolies are the most undesirable form of market structure. Here the consumer loses all their power and thus the market forces become irrelevant. However, a pure monopoly is rather rare in reality.