ABSTRACT
Distributive trade is the fourth largest contributor to Malaysia’s Gross National Income (GNI). Its dynamic growth is attributed to the nation’s rapid urbanisation, rising affluence and demands for more and better quality of consumer goods and services. There are three sub-sectors of distributive trade in Malaysia (Department of Statistics 2012). They include the wholesale trade (e.g. sale of raw agricultural products and intermediate non-agricultural goods), retail trade (e.g., sale of final consumer items at specialised and non-specialised stores, etc.) and motor vehicles business (e.g. sale of vehicles, spare-parts and accessories, etc.). The main focus of this chapter is on the retail trade sub-sector because of its rapid growth and the dynamic participation of local and international investors in recent years.
