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Concept
Commerce
Summary
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the transfer of goods and services on a large scale and at the right time, place, quantity and price from the original producers to the final consumers within local, regional, national or international economies.
The English-language word commerce has been derived from the Latin word commercium, from com ("together") and merx ("merchandise").
Commerce is not business (i.e. an organization or activity whose goal is to sell manufactured goods and/or services for profit), but rather the aspect of business related to the movement and distribution of finished or intermediate (but valuable) goods and services from the primary manufacturers to the end customers on a large scale, as opposed to the sourcing of raw materials and manufacturing of those goods.
Commerce is different from trade as well. Trade is the transaction (buying and selling) of goods and services that makes a profit for the seller and satisfies the want or need of the buyer. When trade is carried out within a country, it is called home or domestic trade, which can be wholesale or retail. A wholesaler buys from the producer in bulk and sells to the retailer who then sells again to the final consumer in smaller quantities. Trade between a country and the rest of the world is called foreign or international trade, which consists of import trade and export trade, both being wholesale in general.
Commerce not only includes trade as defined above, but also the auxiliary services and means that facilitate such trade. Auxiliary services or aids to trade provide services that ease the task of producers in possession of certain goods to send those to the target consumers for satisfaction of their needs and wants. Such services include transportation, communication, warehousing, insurance, banking, financial markets, advertising, packaging, and the services of commercial agents and agencies.
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