Woman standing in a grocery store with a red basket filled with food, including a pineapple, broccoli, and bananas
Retail Trade Industry
The United States has well-established distribution channels for all types of retail companies.

Retail Trade Industry

Industry Overview



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The store retail industry includes motor vehicle and parts dealers; clothing and clothing accessories stores; food and beverage stores; and gasoline stores. In 2023, foreign direct investment contributed $198.6 billion to the store retail industry, including $74.9 billion in food and beverage stores; $60 billion in health and personal care stores; and $25.6 billion in clothing and clothing accessory stores. In 2022, total employment by foreign-owned businesses in the store retail industry reached over 1 million employees.  

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The nonstore retail industry includes electronic shopping, vending machine operators, and direct selling establishments. In 2022, there were 90,991 establishments in this industry. 

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Franchising has provided business opportunities in the United States for more than 150 years. The model is widely embraced because it provides an established plan for business expansion and a means of spreading risk. Franchising also offers assistance and support for new business owners by passing on a proven business model, along with training and support, advertising programs, and accounting and payroll management. 

Franchising offers products and services in over 300 business categories, including food and beverage, lodging, health and educational services, professional services, auto care, accounting and tax services, real estate, home services, IT services and retail products. As a leading job creator in both the U.S. and abroad, franchising continues to prosper in markets all over the world, no matter their level of development or sophistication. 

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Federal Interagency Investment Working Group

Learn about the more than 20 federal agencies and relevant bureaus that comprise the IIWG.

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Investor Guide

The Investor Guide is a high-level view of everything from taxes to immigration and workforce to business structures.

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SelectUSA Stats

SelectUSA has created several dashboards to help analyze key FDI data from a variety of sources.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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