Trade

Definition of the concept

The trade is defined according to two different points of view. One defines it according to the legal point of view since it is a public act, and according to the economic point of view. An old meaning of the word trade also returns to the concepts of communication and relation with others, relating to the expression designating a person of good trade or " of trade agréable". In addition, one can as note as this remote direction, whose origin loses in the mists of time a priori , until proof of the opposite; fact call to a reality where the human reports/ratios and consequently the economy were rather strongly conditioned by the geographical proximity, which enables us to better include/understand it why original polysemia of the mot.

from a legal point of view, the trade is very act described as commercial by the law. Thus, any person is commercial who makes profession of the commercial acts qualified by the law.

This legal definition leaves think that the negotiability of the person is subordinated to that of the act. But the problem remains to be seen what one calls commercial act.

The commercial qualified acts depend on each nation.

from an economic standpoint, is trade what is above-mentioned.

Legal qualification of the trade

So that there is Commercial act to the legal direction, it is necessary that at least one of the parts, called “tradesman” exerts usually the activity of Achat and resale . When a private individual sells occasion his car with another, that is spring of the civil law and not commercial law.

Origin and role of the trade

The trade was one of oldest and important inventions of the Humanité, and is regarded by certain as the origin of the Civilization. It goes back to a very remote past.

To take an anecdotic example, the writing seems to be invented 7000 years ago by the tradesmen sumériens to allow them Comptabilité (famous clay shelves of the museum of Baghdad).

The trade originates in the need for the man . And since always, the man seeks to satisfy his needs as well primary as secondary. The need for satisfying its needs made it industrial. Simple gathering and hunting, the man knew agriculture, the breeding and the industrial production.

The needs for the man are multiple and varied. Knowledge, the skill and the physical force of which it lays out, do not enable him to produce only all which it needs to survive. A problem makes eruption.

It is this problem which makes become aware with the man that it would be necessary to think, to organize itself and to divide work. Then the man decides to produce a good or service of which it is likely (i.e. according to its physical and intellectual capacities as well as its environment). Consequently, it opens with the other which has a product it does not have to satisfy its needs. From there came the exchange.

Indeed, the men did not know the currency. They exchanged things against things. It is thus the Troc . Taking into account the disadvantages of barter, one passed from barter to the Monnaie goods , which precedes the coin and where goods play the part of currency (like the salt, for example, from which the word wages is derived; and synonymous with value in the sense that it makes it possible to preserve food). One invents also the paper of exchange: similar like a check of today.

Each company knew one or more goods of this kind. In Democratic republic of Congo for example, one used " Croisettes" , " Zimbu" and " Perles".

With the time and the contacts of the people of various civilizations, two metals (gold and money) were essential like currencies in a total way because of their qualities: scarcity, inalterability, malleability, the form, hardness, the intrinsic value, homogeneity. Concerning the money, one can in addition find a note interesting here, allowing to better include/understand the preciosity of this metal.

The creation of the currency, the evolution in the field of transport and that of communication facilitated the exchanges between people, localities and country. But this evolution knew and continuous to know some obstacles. It is influenced by the official interventions and the existing monetary conditions.

The trade knows many disturbances because of research of the profit of share and others. The States and the individuals did not cease seeking to eliminate these disturbances and to ensure a normal and adequate unfolding trade for the good general being. Thus, on the national plan, the governments try to stabilize the interior prices by applying various techniques, while to the international plan exist two theories: the Free trade, the Protectionism as well as theeconomic one. The latter, which is inspired with the ideas by Friedrich List, was applied in the 19th century by Germany and the United States. It consists in liberalizing the sectors which one has an advantage in international competition and to continue to protect those where one is not competitive.

The trade remains always a central activity of the economy, and which is more and more diversified and sophisticated (one could speak at the 20th century about a revolution about the distribution) and development tools.

Branches and divisions of the trade

Branches commercial

Connect exchange

Connect transport

The branch transport of the trade is composed of two distinct elements:

1 _ the provisioning part of direction first of the term

2 _ the logistic part of transport

1 _ the provisioning by transport is done by marine way (boat, ship), by terrestrial way (road transport, truck) and by air (plane). All these types of transport comprises advantages and disadvantages on the level of the procurement lead time and at the budgetary level. This requires the calculation of the costs of transport. For example, the sea route is used because it allows transport in mass of many goods. The air route is fastest but also most expensive. It is thus advisable to calculate the added-value of the product.

2 _ logistic transport is currently directed towards tended flow. It is a question of answering directly the request, while launching the line production to measure. Tended flow requires an excellent in-house logistics as well, as into external. In-house, the production must be entirely controlled. Into external, the routing must be réféchi upstream, in order not to fall in stock shortage.

Connect storage

Connect insurance

Divisions of the trade

The trade is subdivided into two: the world commerce which is opposed to the national trade.

International business

The International business includes/understands all the operations on the worldwide market. It is the body gathering the various countries of the world engaged in the production of the goods intended for the overseas markets.

The world commerce includes/understands:

trade of concentration: who consists in assembling the small local productions or regional in counters create for this purpose, in suitable quantities to be handled on the worldwide market.
trade of distribution: consist in getting the goods in very great quantities on the worldwide market and for the enmmagasiner to distribute them to the consumers on the world plan.

National trade

Is that which is exerted by the interior of the borders of a country or with the other countries.

This trade presents three aspects.

According to the geographical aspect

One distinguishes the foreign trade and interior.

foreign trade: be carried out between the inhabitants of two or several countries. It includes/understands:

import trade: who consists in buying abroad the produced goods.
export trade: who consists in selling abroad the goods produced in the interior of a country.
transit trade: who is anything else only the faculty granted to a native product of country X and intended for consumption in the country Y, to cross country Z without discharging the customs duties.

domestic trade: is that which is practiced within a country.

According to the statistical aspect

One distinguishes:

general trade: who is the whole of transit and export, import trade.
special trade: who includes/understands only the import trade and the export trade. It does not include/understand either the trade in relation to free zones and bonded warehouses

According to the importance of the operations

One has the domestic trade. This last abounds wholesale, wholesale trade and that of detail.

wholesale: be carried out between the producer and the traders. It relates only to large quantities of goods.
wholesale trade: is that which consists in buying near grossites goods intended to be sold to the retailers.
retail business: is practiced between the tradesmen retailers and the consumers.

In addition certain business transactions are carried out without purchase-resale by intermediaries remunerated on “commission bases”. It is the case for the Représentant S (in particular VRP), Commissionnaire S, sales representatives, Courtier S, etc

There exist three great forms of trade: - the independent trade which is a traditional form of trade where the owner manages only its business. - associated trade where several independent tradesmen link themselves to fight against the competition of the great commercial groups. - the trade integrated which gathers the wholesale and of detail, appeared in the years 1980-90 and going up very strongly in power.

Commercial large companies

The most important company of the world according to the turnover is the distribution company Walmart, whose seat is with the the United States. The group Crossroads, (head office in France) is established in many countries, it is more the large company of distribution European (world number 2).

One must distinguish three modes from organization in the retail business in France: the independent tradesman, associated trade, and integrated trade.

See too

Random links:

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