Wholesale and retail trade

Stratum 4 · Networks and systems

Wholesale and retail trade

Wholesale and retail trade moves finished goods from manufacturers to households, through distributors, warehouses and stores of every format. Worldwide retail sales were about US$ 31 trillion in 2025 (estimate, calculated from eMarketer's forecast that ecommerce of US$ 6.42 trillion would be 20.5% of the total). The 250 largest retailers took about US$ 6.03 trillion of retail revenue in FY2023, the top 10 holding 34.9% of that, led by Walmart (US$ 648 billion) and Amazon (US$ 252 billion) (Deloitte).³

India. India's retail market was about US$ 1.09 trillion in 2025, over 10% of GDP and employing more than 35 million people (IBEF). Reliance Retail is the only Indian name high in the global ranking, 40th with US$ 31 billion (Deloitte), so organised chains, cold chains and B2B distribution have long runways.

Where ₹100 of wholesale and retail trade output goes

Where ₹100 of wholesale and retail trade output goes Every rupee of sales is paid out to someone along the chain. This splits ₹100 of output by who finally receives it, so you can see how exposed the industry is to commodity, chemical and energy prices. Commodities ₹1.7 Chemicals ₹0.1 Energy ₹2.7…

Price links with supplier industries

Price links with supplier industries How the industries this one buys from shape its prices: the share of its costs they make up, and how their prices have moved together. Tap a row for the charts. Hover or tap ? for what each measure means. Supplier industry Cost share Raw-material mix…

Follow one offering through the chain

Follow one offering through the chain 4 Example story · 6 steps · India A bar of HUL soap reaches a kirana Follow a Hindustan Unilever soap from factory and distributor to an app order, a UPI payment and a neighbourhood shelf. 1 / 6 · Brand owners and sourcing Made and priced by Hindustan Unilever…

Buys directly from

Buys directly from Transport and logistics Real estate Food and beverage processing Apparel and footwear Household and personal care Computers and electronics Paper and packaging Depends on through its suppliers Building materials Construction and infrastructure Electrical equipment Machinery and…

Value chain, from upstream to the customer

Value chain, from upstream to the customer Criticality to the chain: 5 · Chokepoint 4 · Critical 3 · Important 2 · Supporting 1 · Commodity service Stage 1 Brand owners and sourcing Branded consumer-goods manufacturers 3 · Important Make and market the packaged food, personal care, apparel and…

What the whole chain draws on

What the whole chain draws on Every commodity, chemical and energy tile named by the enterprises above; ×n shows how many of them depend on it. Open any tile for its full detail. Commodities (12) Ct Cotton ×3 Ri Rice ×3 PO Palm oil ×2 Su Sugar ×2 St Steel ×2 Mk Milk & dairy ×2 Cu Copper ×2 Pls…

Chokepoints and risks

Chokepoints and risks Payments concentration: UPI runs through one operator (NPCI) and carried about 241.6 billion transactions in 2025-26, so an outage halts Indian checkouts 4 . Logistics costs at 7.97% of Indian GDP in 2023-24 squeeze thin retail margins when fuel or freight rates rise 5 .…

Sources

Sources Global Powers of Retailing 2025 Deloitte, 2025 Retail infographic, May 2026 India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), 2026 Ecommerce to account for more than 20% of worldwide retail sales despite slowdown (February 2025 forecast) eMarketer, 2025 Government says nearly 55.49 crore users…

Relationship cards

• Food and beverage processing: Distribution is food processors' route to the consumer and one of their largest costs, about ₹13 of every ₹100 of output; kiranas still carry most of it, but quick commerce is taking share in big cities and squeezing traditional distributors. (researched)
• Apparel and footwear: Apparel and footwear buys from Wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade buys from Apparel and footwear; apparel and footwear depends on wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade depends on apparel and footwear.
• Computers and electronics: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Computers and electronics; computers and electronics buys from Wholesale and retail trade; computers and electronics depends on wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade depends on computers and electronics.
• Household and personal care: Household and personal care buys from Wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade buys from Household and personal care; household and personal care depends on wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade depends on household and personal care.
• Paper and packaging: Paper and packaging buys from Wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade buys from Paper and packaging; paper and packaging depends on wholesale and retail trade; wholesale and retail trade depends on paper and packaging.
• Construction and infrastructure: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Construction and infrastructure; wholesale and retail trade depends on construction and infrastructure.
• E-commerce and digital marketplaces: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Wholesale and retail trade; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Electrical equipment: Electrical equipment buys from Wholesale and retail trade; electrical equipment depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Finance: banking, insurance, markets: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Finance: banking, insurance, markets; wholesale and retail trade depends on finance: banking, insurance, markets.
• Furniture: Furniture buys from Wholesale and retail trade; furniture depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Healthcare services: Healthcare services buys from Wholesale and retail trade; healthcare services depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Medical devices: Medical devices buys from Wholesale and retail trade; medical devices depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals buys from Wholesale and retail trade; pharmaceuticals depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Real estate: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Real estate; wholesale and retail trade depends on real estate.
• Software and IT services: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Software and IT services; wholesale and retail trade depends on software and IT services.
• Telecommunications: Telecommunications buys from Wholesale and retail trade; telecommunications depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• Transport and logistics: Wholesale and retail trade buys from Transport and logistics; wholesale and retail trade depends on transport and logistics.
• Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft: Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft buys from Wholesale and retail trade; vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft depends on wholesale and retail trade.
• ABS: Wholesale and retail trade depends on ABS.
• Ammonia: Wholesale and retail trade depends on ammonia.
• Cement: Wholesale and retail trade depends on cement.
• Chlorine: Wholesale and retail trade depends on chlorine.
• Combustion road vehicles: Wholesale and retail trade depends on combustion road vehicles.
• Construction chemicals: Wholesale and retail trade depends on construction chemicals.
• Copper: Wholesale and retail trade depends on copper.
• Cotton: Wholesale and retail trade depends on cotton.
• Data centres: Wholesale and retail trade depends on data centres.
• Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors: Wholesale and retail trade depends on distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors.
• Dyes: Wholesale and retail trade depends on dyes.
• Energy in buildings: Wholesale and retail trade depends on energy in buildings.
• Energy-intensive industry: Wholesale and retail trade depends on energy-intensive industry.
• Fluorochemicals and refrigerants: Wholesale and retail trade depends on fluorochemicals and refrigerants.
• Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration: Wholesale and retail trade depends on heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration.
• Internal combustion engines and gensets: Wholesale and retail trade depends on internal combustion engines and gensets.
• Latent heat and cold storage: Wholesale and retail trade depends on latent heat and cold storage.
• Lighting and displays: Wholesale and retail trade depends on lighting and displays.
• Lithium iron phosphate batteries: Wholesale and retail trade depends on lithium iron phosphate batteries.
• Milk & dairy: Wholesale and retail trade depends on milk & dairy.
• PET resin: Wholesale and retail trade depends on PET resin.
• PVC: Wholesale and retail trade depends on PVC.
• Palm oil: Wholesale and retail trade depends on palm oil.
• Polyester fibre: Wholesale and retail trade depends on polyester fibre.
• Polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE): Wholesale and retail trade depends on polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE).
• Polypropylene: Wholesale and retail trade depends on polypropylene.
• Polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols): Wholesale and retail trade depends on polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols).
• Poultry: Wholesale and retail trade depends on poultry.
• Pulses: Wholesale and retail trade depends on pulses.
• Rice: Wholesale and retail trade depends on rice.
• Solar photovoltaics: Wholesale and retail trade depends on solar photovoltaics.
• Steel: Wholesale and retail trade depends on steel.
• Sugar: Wholesale and retail trade depends on sugar.
• Surfactants: Wholesale and retail trade depends on surfactants.
• Timber: Wholesale and retail trade depends on timber.
• Wheat: Wholesale and retail trade depends on wheat.