Since Commerce Is Concerned with the Distribution of Goods from Producer to Consumer, It

Since commerce is concerned with the distribution of goods from producer to consumer, it is logical to put a question: how is that goods reach consumers? There are several distribution channels which goods can follow from the producer to the consumer. The traditional distribution chain operates through the following steps:

This traditional way of marketing through a wholesaler is often by-passed by manufacturers or growers, who sell direct to retailers or to consumers. Large retailers who have space and money to buy in large quantities frequently obtain their stocks directly from the manufacturer not from the wholesaler. This is the case of such large groups as Marks & Spencer, Littlewoods, Debenhams, etc. It may also happen that manufacturers sell to mail order companies who sell goods to consumers by mail order catalogue.

Mr John West is a big merchant. He is a wholesaler dealing in cotton and wool manufactures. He buys and sells in large quantities. His main line comprises table and bed linen and clothing for men and women. He has been dealing in this line for over twenty years and owns a network of warehouses situated in several parts of the country and conveniently situated for onward distribution. He is one of the leading suppliers who operate nationwide. He supplies large companies and distributors as well as sole traders with a wide variety of manufactures which are appreciated for their best quality and original designs. He usually follows the market trend and tries to stock new styles of clothing which meet his customers' requirements.

He has got a large experience in the line he trades in and is known to be as a qualified and reliable man. Last month he made a bulk purchase from a Lancashire manufacturer. He bought a big lot of cotton items which he now wholesales to distribution companies and retailers all over the country. He generally sells for cash. Sometimes, however, when dealing with small retailers, he grants good terms of payment or sells by monthly instalments. His selling prices are not expensive. He quotes low prices to enable his customers to make big purchases. In this way he succeeds in facing the keen competition by other firms and facilitates the replacement of enormous stocks of goods to make room for new more fashionable models. Since he holds prices down, he makes big sales and considerable profits.

He has employed a number of clerks skilled in bookkeeping and data processing as well as other people handling storing, distribution and delivery of the goods. He needs a substantial amount of capital to finance his large warehouses and to pay the salaries of the salesmen he sends round to obtain orders from retailers. He has also to finance several showrooms which give him the opportunity of promoting the sale of goods by means of effective displays which are appreciated as being an eye on the latest fashion. Showrooms in suitable centres enable retailers to see the goods in comfort

COMMERCIAL PHRASES

for sale, on salein vendita

for cashin / per contanti

on credita credito

by instalmentsa rate

by monthly instalmentsa rate mensili

by quarterly instalments a rate trimestrali

on hire purchasea rate

cheapa buon mercato

expensivecaro, costoso

at the price ofal prezzo di

at a low pricea prezzo basso

at a high pricea prezzo alto

at such a pricea tale prezzo

at competitive pricesa prezzi di concorrenza

at a considerable profitcon un forte guadagno

on the terms statedalle condizioni indicate

on the terms agreed uponalle condizioni concordate

Esempi:

to deal - dealer - deal

to deal in (dealt-dealt)occuparsi di, trattare, commerciare in

to deal withtrattare, fare affari con

to deal with an orderdar corso a un ordine

dealercommerciante, (ri)venditore, negoziante

coal dealercommerciante di carbone

area dealeragente di zona

main dealerconcessionario principale

to do a deal with s.o.fare un affare con qlcu.

to make a dealfare, venire a un accordo

dealingcomportamento, negoziazione, transazione

a dealuna trattativa, una operazione

hire-purchase dealoperazione rateale

trade dealofferta promozionale (per i commercianti)

a smart dealun affarone

it's a dealaffare fatto!

a deal of, a good deal ofmolto, una grande quantità di

to shop, shop, shopkeeper

shopnegozio, bottega

shopkeepernegoziante, esercente

shop assistantcommesso

shopperacquirente, compratore

shopperssacchetti di plastica col nome del negozio

shop signinsegna di negozio

shop windowvetrina di negozio

shops' hoursorario dei negozi

retail shopnegozio al dettaglio

back-shopretrobottega

to keep a shoptenere, gestire un negozio

to shopfare compere, fare acquisti

to purchase, purchase, purchaser

to purchaseacquistare, comperare

to make a purchasefare un acquisto

purchaseacquisto, compera

purchase on creditacquisto a credito

bulk purchaseacquisto in blocco, all'ingrosso

cash purchaseacquisto per contanti

hire purchaseacquisto a rate

instalment purchaseacquisto a rate

purchase departmentufficio acquisti

purchase money / priceprezzo d'acquisto

purchase requestrichiesta di acquisto

purchaseracquirente, compratore

purchasingacquisto, d'acquisto

purchasing conditionscondizioni d'acquisto

purchasing managerdirettore agli acquisti

purchasing orderordine d'acquisto

purchasing powerpotere d'acquisto

purchasing valuevalore d'acquisto

READING PASSAGES

The forms of industrial and commercial organisation and the patterns of ownership and control are varied. The main categories of organisation are: unincorporated businesses (sole traders and partnerships), of which there are more than 1 million; incorporated companies; and public sector enterprises, which are owned by the Government. Incorporation means that companies are entered on an official register of companies. At the end of 1989 there were over 1.2 million companies on the register, although about 14 per cent of these were in liquidation or in the process of removal. About 11,000 of the companies were public limited companies. Although not numerous, co-operative enterprises increased in number from about 900 in 1979 to about 1,500 in 1989.

Nationalised Industries. The electricity supply industry in Great Britain is being privatised, which will leave as the major nationalised industries British Coal, British Rail, the Post Office and London Transport. The managing boards and staffs of the nationalised industries are not civil servants. However, the boards are responsible to ministers, who appoint the chairmen and members. Ministers are responsible for agreeing with the industries their general strategies and have the power to give general directions as to how the industry should be run, but are not involved in day-to-day management. The Government's policy is to encourage the nationalised industries to behave as far as possible as commercial enterprises. This is carried out through the financial framework, set by the Government, within which the industries are expected to operate. The main elements of the framework are: clear government objectives for the industries; regular corporate plans and performance reviews; agreed principles relating to investment appraisal and pricing; financial targets and performance aims; external financial limits; and systematic monitoring.

Industrial Financing. Over half of companies' funds for investment and other purposes are internally generated. Banks provide the chief external source of finance, but companies increasingly turned to equity finance from the mid-1980s. The main forms of short-term finance available in the private sector are bank overdrafts, trade credit and factoring (making cash available to a company in exchange for debts owing to it). Types of medium- and long-term finance include bank loans, the mortgaging of property and the issue of shares and other securities to the public through The International Stock Exchange. The leasing of equipment may also be regarded as a form of finance. Other sources of finance for industry include the Government, the European Community and specialist financial institutions. The 1980s were particularly notable for the growth of schemes involving venture capital (equity funds made available by financial institutions in support of innovative or other new and growing business ventures).

(Adapted from Britain 1991: An Official Handbook)

1

to appreciategradire, apprezzare, rendersi conto

2

to arrangeprovvedere, occuparsi, disporre che

Costruzione: to arrange + for + object + to-infinitive

arrangementaccordo, intesa

to make an arrangementaccordarsi, mettersi d'accordo

3

to be interested ininteressarsi di, avere interesse per

Nota:

to take an interest ininteressarsi di

to take no further interest indisinteressarsi di

to arouse interestsuscitare interesse

to lose interest inperdere interesse per

4

to buy - bought - boughtcomprare

buyercompratore

5

to carry outeseguire

carriertrasportatore

6

to collectritirare, raccogliere

Nota

to collect a chequeincassare un assegno

to collect a debtrecuperare un debito

to send collectspedire con tassa a carico

a collect calluna chiamata a carico del destinatario

to call collectchiamare a carico del destinatario

7

to correspond to / withcorrispondere, essere conforme a

Verbi analoghi:

to be up toessere conforme a

to matcharmonizzare, accompagnarsi, accordarsi

to tallycorrispondere, combaciare

to come up torispondere a, essere conforme a

to comply withessere conforme a

to agreeconcordare, essere d'accordo, andare d'accordo

to fitadattarsi a, combaciare

to conformconformarsi, essere conforme a, adattarsi

8

to deal in - dealt - dealttrattare, commerciare in

dealercommerciante

cotton dealercommerciante di cotone

VOCABULARY

table linenbiancheria da tavola

onwardulteriore

nationwidesu scala nazionale

sole traderscommercianti in proprio

trendtendenza, andamento

qualifiedesperto

reliableaffidabile

bulk purchaseacquisto in blocco

selling pricesprezzi di vendita

to enablemettere in grado

to make roomfare spazio

to holdtenere

skilledcapaci, esperti

bookkeepingcontabilità

data processingelaborazione dati

storingimmagazzinamento

advertiserinserzionista

advisorconsigliere

agentagente

bankerbanchiere

brokersensale

businessmanuomo d'affari

buyercompratore

charterernoleggiatore

commercial correspondentcorrispondente commerciale

competitorconcorrente

consultantconsulente

consumerconsumatore

creditorcreditore

customer, customerscliente, clientela

dealercommerciante

debtordebitore

distributordistributore

employeeimpiegato

employerdatore di lavoro

exporteresportatore

forwarding agentspedizioniere

hauliertrasportatore

importerimportatore

insurerassicuratore

manufacturerfabbricante, industriale

merchantcommerciante

partnersocio

producerproduttore

purchaseracquirente, compratore

receiverricevitore

retailerdettagliante

salesmanvenditore, commesso viaggiatore

sellervenditore

shippercaricatore

shopkeepernegoziante

sole tradercommerciante in proprio

storekeepermagazziniere

supplierfornitore

surveyorispettore

telex operatortelescriventista

tradercommerciante

travellerviaggiatore

warehousemanmagazziniere

wholesalergrossista

to adviseconsigliare

to be in tradeessere in commercio

to buy (at / from)comprare (da)

to carrytrasportare

to carry on tradeesercitare il commercio

to deal intrattare, commerciare in

to distributedistribuire

to exportesportare

to go into businessmettersi in commercio

to go shoppingfare acquisti

to importimportare

to insureassicurare

to make a purchasefare un acquisto

to make a sale fare una vendita

to manufacturefabbricare, produrre

to offeroffrire

to produceprodurre

to purchaseacquistare, comprare

to quotequotare

to resellrivendere, vendere di seconda mano

to sellvendere, vendersi

to storeimmagazzinare

to surveyispezionare, esaminare

to trade in... with...commerciare in... con...

to warehouseimmagazzinare

goodsmerce, merci

manufacturemanufatto, fabbricazione, produzione

manufactured articlesmanufatti

manufactured goodsmanufatti, prodotti lavorati

industrial productsprodotti industriali

agricoltural produceprodotti agricoli

foodstuffsgeneri alimentari

lineramo, genere di commercio

articlearticolo

EXERCISES