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Sector characteristics
Retail trade is characterised by a complex structure with on one
hand very small enterprises and on the other hand large enterprises. The sector
is increasingly shaped essentially by a few very large groups or chains
exploiting economies of scale, mixed with many small shops serving a local
market. The increasingly important role of large enterprises in EU retail trade
can be seen from their share in total turnover (about 50%) and employment (about
35%). The e-Business [email protected] analysis focuses on the retail activity achieved by
large enterprises for food items (55.11), non-food items (55.12) and 52.4.
| Code |
Activity |
| 52.11 |
Retail sale in
non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco
predominating |
| 52.12 |
Other retail sale in
non-specialised stores |
| 52.4 |
Other retail sale of new
goods in specialised stores |
European food retailing continues to grow as well as the size of
its largest players. Most of the biggest European food retailers figure amongst
the 50 largest business groups in Europe. Non food retail trade through stores
is a much more mature industry. The main activities in the non-food retail
industry in stores concern the retail sale of goods like clothes, footwear, home
accessories, electrical goods, medical and cosmetic goods, furniture in
non-specialised (52.12) and specialised stores (52.4).
Retail trade is one of the industries where e-commerce presents
an evident opportunity to develop a completely new trading form with lower
transaction costs. E-business directly modifies the trading activity because of
the following factors: independence from opening hours, frequent updates of
prices and promotion, smaller shops and show-rooms, better stock control,
on-line automatic support and after-sales service. As a consequence, logistics,
store management, customer retention are all functions likely to be strongly
impacted by e-business.
European association(s)
- EuroCommerce - The Retail, Wholesale and International Trade Representation
to the EU; EuroCommerce, 9-31, Avenue des Nerviens 1040 Brussels, Belgium; www.eurocommerce.be
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