The term "big-box" is derived from the store's physical appearance. A big-box retailer is a store that occupies a large physical footprint while offering a wide variety of products to its customers, often in bulk. Designed to be a one-stop-shop for customers, big-box stores can offer great convenience and value.

A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.