Branches of trade

Commerce is trade plus the aids to trade. Trade itself is the buying and selling of goods and services, and it is divided into home trade and foreign trade.

Home trade takes place within a country and is either wholesale or retail. Foreign trade takes place between countries and consists of import, export and entrepot (re-export) trade.

Aids to trade are the services that make trade possible: banking, insurance, transport, warehousing, advertising and communication. Without them goods could not move easily from producer to consumer.