Key Points

Internal trade refers to the buying and selling of goods and services within the geographical boundaries of a country. It is broadly classified into two categories: Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade.

Wholesale trade involves the purchase and sale of goods in large quantities for the purpose of resale or intermediate use. Wholesalers act as a crucial link between manufacturers and retailers.

Wholesalers help manufacturers by facilitating large-scale production, bearing business risks, providing financial assistance, offering expert advice, and handling storage and distribution.

Wholesalers support retailers by ensuring the availability of goods from various manufacturers, granting credit facilities, providing marketing support, and sharing specialized market knowledge.

Retail trade involves selling goods and services in relatively small quantities directly to the ultimate consumers for their personal use. Retailers are the final link in the distribution chain.

Retailers serve manufacturers by helping in distribution and promotion, and they serve consumers by ensuring regular availability of products, providing credit, and offering a wide selection of goods.

Retailers are primarily classified based on whether they have a fixed place of business. The two main categories are Itinerant Retailers and Fixed Shop Retailers.

Itinerant retailers are traders who do not have a fixed place of business and move from place to place to sell their goods. Examples include peddlers, hawkers, market traders, and cheap jacks.

Fixed shop retailers maintain permanent establishments to sell their merchandise. They are further divided into small-scale retailers (like general stores, speciality shops) and large-scale retailers.

A departmental store is a large retail establishment offering a wide variety of products under one roof, organized into separate departments. They are usually located centrally and provide many customer services.

Chain stores are a network of retail shops owned by a single organization, having a similar appearance and dealing in standardized, branded products. Examples include Bata shoe stores.

Departmental stores offer a wide variety of products at a central location, while chain stores deal in a limited product line and are located in various localities to be close to customers.

Mail order houses are retail outlets that sell their merchandise through mail, without any direct personal contact between buyers and sellers. They are suitable for standardized and non-perishable goods.

A consumer cooperative store is an organization owned, managed, and controlled by consumers themselves to eliminate middlemen. They aim to provide goods at reasonable prices to their members.

A super market is a large retailing business unit that operates on the principle of self-service. It sells a wide variety of consumer goods, mainly food and grocery items, at low prices.

Vending machines are a modern form of retailing where coin-operated machines are used to sell low-priced, pre-packed products of uniform size and weight, such as soft drinks and snacks.

Implemented on July 1, 2017, GST is a destination-based single tax on the supply of goods and services. It replaced multiple indirect taxes to create a unified national market.

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (like FICCI, CII) are associations that promote and protect the common interests of the business community. They interact with the government on policies related to taxation, infrastructure, and interstate trade.