Third Quarter Wholesale and Retail Trade Sales Record Slight Increase
The wholesale and retail trade statistics are released every quarter by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics.
The indicator tracks the dollar value of merchandise sold within the wholesale and retail sector and covers registered businesses engaged in these sector including repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles that accounts for 80 per cent of total turnover in this business sector.
In general, the wholesale and retail sectors act as intermediary in the distribution of merchandise between producers and consumers of goods.
The wholesalers comprises establishments engaged in wholesaling merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise.
They neither produce nor consume the finished product, but instead sell to retailers, other merchants, and/or to industrial, institutional, and commercial users.
Wholesalers usually do not deal directly with the end user.
Retailers on the other hand includes establishments that are engaged in the sale of merchandise for personal or household consumption and in the rendering of services that are incidental to the sale of the merchandise.
They normally engage in activities to attract the general public to buy their products and they offer goods and services directly to consumers.
Typically, such businesses offer goods and services for sale directly to the ultimate consumers, usually private individuals.
The wholesale and retail trade statistics from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics for the September quarter of 2017 showed that total wholesale and retail trade sales stood at $984.6 million.
Total sales rose by 1.9 per cent ($18.8m) when compared to the September quarter of 2016 due to an increase in the sale of motor vehicle and alcoholic beverages.
Total sales rose by 0.7 per cent ($7.2m) when compared to the June quarter of 2017 due to an increase in the sale of hardware material and alcoholic beverages.
The wholesale and retail trade statistics are used to help determine the pattern of consumer spending over a period of time.
It is an important component of the gross domestic product, which measures the output production of an economy, and are part of many economic models used by public and private agencies.
The Reserve Bank uses this data to analyse recent trends in consumer purchases as part of their overall analysis of the economic activity.
In more advanced economies, such as that of the United States, the release of trade data can cause huge volatility in the stock market due to it being used as one of the major predictors of inflationary pressure.
Generally, a slow growth in sales may indicate that consumers are not spending as much as they used to, and that could signal a possible decline in economic activities due to the significant role personal consumption plays in the health of the economy.
The wholesale and retail trade statistics are also very integral part of operational planning for businesses.
By reference to these statistics together with other demand side data, businesses can plan their supply accordingly.
Also, within the wholesale and retail trade statistic, investors are able to identify valuable trends among different types of goods and services of different industries and so plan their investment portfolio accordingly.
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