This division includes the resale (sale without transformation) of new and used goods mainly to the general public for personal or household consumption or utilization, by shops, department stores, stalls, mail-order houses, hawkers and peddlers, consumer cooperatives etc.

Retail trade is classified first by type of sale outlet (retail trade in stores: groups 471 to 477; retail trade not in stores: groups 478 and 479). Retail trade in stores includes the retail sale of used goods (class 4774). For retail sale in stores, there exists a further distinction between specialized retail sale (groups 472 to 477) and non-specialized retail sale (group 471). The above groups are further subdivided by the range of products sold. Sale not via stores is subdivided according to the forms of trade, such as retail sale via stalls and markets (group 478) and other non-store retail sale, e.g. mail order, door-to-door, by vending machines etc. (group 479).

The goods sold in this division are limited to goods usually referred to as consumer goods or retail goods. Therefore goods not usually entering the retail trade, such as cereal grains, ores, industrial machinery etc., are excluded. This division also includes units engaged primarily in selling to the general public, from displayed goods, products such as personal computers, stationery, paint or timber, although these sales may not be for personal or household use. Some processing of goods may be involved, but only incidental to selling, e.g. sorting or repackaging of goods, installation of a domestic appliance, etc.

This division also includes the retail sale by commission agents and activities of retail auctioning houses.

This division 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
——sale of motor vehicles, motorcycles and their parts, see division 45
——trade in cereal grains, ores, crude petroleum, industrial chemicals, iron and steel and industrial machinery and equipment, see division 46
——sale of food and drinks for consumption on the premises and sale of takeaway food, see division 56
——renting of personal and household goods to the general public, see group 772