Personal consumption of retail goods and services comprise about 71% and account
for about $11.4 trillion of total GDP. The retail industry can be divided into seven
major firm types:
• General merchandise
• Durable goods
• Specialty stores
• Food and beverage
• Gasoline and fuel
• MOTO
• Online retail firms
Each type offers opportunities for online retail. The MOTO sector is the most similar
to the online retail sales sector.
During the early days of e-commerce, some predicted that the retail industry would
be revolutionized, based on the following beliefs: