Distribution services are driven by innovation, with such segments as retailing becoming the most attractive destinations for investment.

Retail trade and repair services

Commission agents' services, wholesale trade services, retailing services, and franchising

Distribution services are dominated by wholesale and retail services.

In particular, online retail sales of physical goods amounted to approximately RMB5.08 trillion, while online retail sales of services amounted to nearly RMB1.49 trillion.

The process of opening the retail sector in China began in 1992 when foreign investment was allowed in retailing on a trial basis.

Following the GATS services sectoral classification, distribution services include commission agents' services, wholesale trade services, retailing services, and franchising.

Commission agents' services (CPC 621) Wholesale trade services (CPC 622) Retailing services (CPC 631 632 6111 6113 6121) Franchising (CPC 8929) Other

The services segment of the economy, apart from government services, comprises mostly trade, both wholesale and retail.

The GATS proposals on energy services classification capture services such as wholesale trade services, retailing services and storage services they refer to sales of fuels and wholesale brokerage (CPC 62113) wholesale trade services of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and related products (CPC 62271) and retailing services of fuel oil, bottled gas, coal, and woods (CPC 63297).

Wholesale receipts had the largest gain at 44.5 per cent, followed by retail sales at 10.1 per cent and services at 8.2 per cent.14

Online sales are less common in retail trade (B2C) or in services' industries, with sales accounting for only 1.7 and 1 per cent of total sales, respectively.

FDI facilitates the switch from informal to formal retailing.

For example, effective investment promotion calls for skills in marketing while efficient investment services require a business background.

Store retail services can be classified according to size, business format, and product mix or specialization.

Not all developing countries and LDCs that seek to attract foreign investment to develop their retail services sector are successful, since developing countries represent low value markets on average, and for FDI to come, sufficient volume of sales should be available.

In total, stock of Asian investment in the retail trade in the United States in 2002 stood at US 3 billion in retail trade.

(b) About 30,000 children and young people work in a shop, supermarket, kiosk or service station

Indeed, the Indian government s decision to welcome foreign retailers coincided with French retailer Carrefour s announcement that it will shut down its substantial operations in Singapore by the end of this year. Meanwhile, its British counterpart, Tesco, is shifting away from the large hypermarket format and investing heavily in online systems.

Wake up, students. It s time to highlight the key points. Online retail sales of services was definitely a major contributor!

They operate at the margin between ex factory and wholesale and retail prices.

Business can encounter significant barriers when striving to invest in foreign distribution (retail or wholesale) markets.

And two dollars profit per entrepreneur per day, which is like 700 dollars per year.

Small retailers can, however, find niche markets, such as serving convenience needs and local tastes.

Distribution services in Colombia contribute 4.5 per cent of GDP, of which retailing accounts for 1.5 per cent.

In today's global markets, distribution and retailing service companies face a series of choices decisions, including about which markets to tap (e.g. where to invest) and how to disaggregate their supply chain (e.g. where to source from).

They cater to retailers and to other wholesalers, and, for example in the food business, to what are called institutional customers , such as restaurants, hospitals, and catering services.

The manual provided some guidance on the compilation of data for the wholesale, retail and service trades.

The shift of FDI to services

For instance, investing abroad may be necessary in order to market a product or services in a host country and to sell it more effectively there.

The nature of global retail markets is being transformed through consumer level electronic funds transfers and on line delivery of some services.

Service Module 2 Investment and technology promotion

OFDI was largely led by the manufacturing sector.

The retail sector includes two main types of retailers store and non store retailers.

Producers are also engaging in direct sales to consumers through on line retailing, bypassing retailers.

They choose the gradual opening up of the retail sector as the first step, allowing large scale providers to cater to customers at the higher end of the market.

If investors understand that online distribution is revolutionizing the retail sector, isolating the sector s CEOs from financial markets would just push more resources into a deteriorating, shrinking business model. In this sense (and only this sense), short term thinking that induces change and movement away from obsolete technology here and throughout the economy may well facilitate long term prosperity.

In the service sector, the decline is even worse than in manufacturing, because services are heavily regulated and partially closed to foreign competition. In the retail sector, which employs a huge number of Japan s unskilled workers the so called mom and pop shops Japanese productivity is now 25 lower than in Western Europe.

Foreign expansion of retailers has been mostly through acquisitions of domestic chains in other countries, some greenfield investment, and joint ventures with local companies.

In the Colombian market large scale retailers coexist with SMEs, each one serving a different segment of the market.

Retail trade 353

Service personnel and retail trade assistants

World Investment Report The Shift towards Services (UNCTAD WIR 2004).

Liberty Shoes Ltd., a subsidiary of an Indian TNC, used OFDI to establish retail outlets overseas.

World Investment Report 2004 The Shift Towards Services (New York and Geneva United Nations), United Nations publication, sales no.