A store or commercial premises can be called a commerce.
The term commerce comes from the Latin concept commercĭum and refers to the transaction that is carried out with the aim of buying or selling a product . Commerce is also called a commercial establishment , business , pharmacy or store , and the social group made up of merchants .
For example: "My father is a fruit and vegetable trader at the wholesale market" , "They opened a clothing store right next to my house" , "A robbery at a store in the Santa Catalina neighborhood: the police arrested three criminals" .
Trade as an activity
Trade, in other words, is a social and economic activity that involves the acquisition and transfer of goods . Those who participate in a trade act can buy the product to make direct use of it, to resell it or to transform it.
In general, this commercial operation involves the delivery of one thing in order to receive, in exchange, another thing of similar value. The medium of exchange in trade is usually money .
Barter, the preceding stage
However, it should be noted that until the appearance of money, ancient civilizations carried out trade through what was called barter. This operation consisted of acquiring a specific product from a seller who was paid by giving him another product that he needed.
In this way we could emphasize that this commercial operation was fundamentally based on the exchange of basic necessities such as food.
Nowadays, trade can be developed virtually thanks to the Internet.
Routes for trade development
Likewise, and using history, it must also be said that in the past there existed what were called trade routes . These were nothing more than various routes or itineraries that acted as links between the areas where a certain product was produced and those that, however, demanded it.
Among the best-known trade routes we find, for example, the silk route that linked China with Europe; the New Spain Route that served as a link between Asia and America with Europe; or the famous spice route that linked the old continent with places in Oceania, China and India.
These routes were often responsible for the discovery of new places and corners of the world and for promoting creation and innovation in areas such as science and technology. Some of the historical figures who have been fundamental in the development of these routes are Marco Polo and Vasco de Gama.
Retail and wholesale sales
A merchant is a person, whether legal or physical, who makes a living from commerce. Therefore, commercial activity constitutes his or her livelihood.
There are different types of commerce depending on their characteristics. Retail trade (also known as retail trade ) takes place between the seller and the final consumer (the person who acquires the product to use or consume it).
In wholesale trade (or bulk trade ), however, the buyer is not the one who consumes or uses the purchased product. His intention is to be able to make a subsequent sale of the same product, at a higher price than that paid.