The Retail Trade sector category includes industries and establishments that focus primarily on providing products and services to retailers. Included in this category are sites covering the retail merchandising industry, retailer resources, suppliers and manufacturers of retailing products, and services that support the industry.

Retailers listed in Business vs. Shopping

Corporate sites for regional, national, and international retail chains, corporations, and holding companies may be listed within Business if they are focused on providing information about the retailer rather than functioning as a consumer shopping destination.

For example, http://www.walmartstores.com/ is WalMart's corporate site, and may be listed in the Business branch. However, http://www.walmart.com/ is a consumer shopping site, and would thus be listed in Shopping.

When a retailer's site functions as both a corporate site and a shopping destination, the site is generally listed only in the Shopping branch (e.g. http://www.landsend.com/).

Sites generally not listed in this category include:

• Individual retailers are listed in one of three places, according to the above criteria.
  • Business: Those which qualify for a listing in Business are listed according to their industry. For example, sites for major automotive retail chains are listed in Business: Automotive: Retail.
  • Shopping: Retailer sites designed as online destinations for distance shopping.
  • Regional: Sites for local retail outlets are listed according to the city or town where they are located.
• Manufacturers of the goods sold by retailers are listed according to their primary industry within Business. Many are listed in Business: Consumer Goods and Services.