Cash and Carry

Originally, cash and carry simply designates a method of making purchases where the customer pays the purchased goods immediately and takes them away himself -- as opposed to having the goods delivered and paying a bill later. In that sense, most retail shops are "cash and carry".

Cash and carry also has more specific meanings in certain fields:

• in history: The policy of Cash and Carry established at the onset of World War II in 1939 revised the Neutrality Acts so any ship could come to United States ports and carry away anything they could buy. This policy aided Great Britain and France.
• in economics: A cash and carry (market) is a wholesale dealer which operates by the "cash and carry" principle. In the wholesale business the buyers usually (used to) get their goods delivered; "cash and carry" markets break this tradition by working more like a usual supermarket.
  Nowadays, "cash and carry" markets are an important part of the wholesale market in many countries.