NICDivision
NIC 47—Retail trade
Division · National Industrial Classification (2025)
Where 47 sits
- G Wholesale and retail trade
- 47 Retail trade
Contains 9 narrower codes
- 471 Non-specialized retail sale
- 472 Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco
- 473 Retail sale of automotive fuel
- 474 Retail sale of information and communication equipment
- 475 Retail sale of other household equipment
- 476 Retail sale of cultural and recreational goods
- 477 Retail sale of other goods, except motor vehicles and motorcycles
- 478 Retail sale of motor vehicles, motorcycles and related parts and accessories
- 479 Intermediation service activities for retail sale
What 47 includes
- This division includes the resale (sale without transformation or after minor alterations or usual handling such as reconditioning) of new and used physical goods to the general public for personal or household consumption or utilisation, by shops, department stores, consumer cooperatives, stalls, mailorder houses, internet, door-to-door sales persons, hawkers etc. This division includes retail trade of new and used motor vehicles and motorcycles including electrical vehicles. The classification of retail trade activities is done based on traded good and not according to the way of selling (in store, on-line, via stall and market etc.). Retail trade activities are divided into specialised retail trade activities (groups 472 to 478) and non-specialised retail trade activities (group 471). Retail trade includes the retail sale of second-hand goods (class 4774). The above groups are further subdivided by the range of products sold. The goods sold in this division are limited to goods usually referred to as consumer goods or retail goods. Therefore, goods not normally entering the retail trade, such as cereal grains, ores, industrial machinery etc. are excluded. Distribution of digital products, including downloading and streaming services is also excluded.
- This division also includes units engaged primarily in selling to the general public, from displayed merchandise, products such as personal computers, stationery, paint or timber, although these products may not be for personal or household use. Handling that is customary in trade does not affect the basic character of the merchandise and may include, for example, sorting, separating, mixing and packaging, delivery and installation of goods as well as sales promotion for their customers, if supplied by the same trader.
- Retail sale of automotive fuel and lubricating or cooling products
- Activities of retail auctioneering houses of third-party goods of both new and used goods, including internet retail auctions
- Activities of units providing intermediation service activities for (non-) specialised retail trade (marketplaces) that facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers for the ordering and/or delivering of physical goods for a fee or commission, without taking ownership of the goods that are intermediated.
- These activities can be carried out on digital platforms or through non-digital channels, see 479
- Vending machines selling goods other than food and beverages
- Vending machines selling food and beverages prepared by the machine itself
What 47 excludes
- Sale of farmers' products by farmers, see division 01
- Manufacture and sale of goods, which is generally classified as manufacturing in divisions 10-32
- Trade in cereal grains, ores, crude petroleum, industrial chemicals, iron and steel and industrial machinery and equipment, see division 46
- Coffee dispenser and vending machines selling food and drinks fit for immediate consumption, see division 56
- Distribution of digital products, including downloading and streaming services such as e-books, see Section J.
- Rental and leasing of motor vehicles or motorcycles, see group 771
- Rental and leasing of personal and household goods to the general public, see group 772
47 in other systems
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