Aids to Trade

What are Aids to Trade?

Aids to Trade are those services that facilitate, the buying and selling of goods and services.

Examples of Aids to Trade:

The aids to trade are banking, advertising, insurance, transport, communication, e-commerce, warehousing, and tourism.

1. Banking:

Banking services are provided by institutions, set up to aid business transactions.

Their services include:

a. Providing businesses with capital, to carry out buying and selling.

b. Helping businesses transfer money, locally or internationally.

c. Helping traders keep their money in the bank.

d. Providing loans for customers to run their businesses.

2. Advertising:

It involves the creation of awareness of existing and new products available for sale, through radio, television, billboards, magazines, and the internet. This helps to increase the sales of goods and services.

3. Insurance:

It is protection against unforeseen loss and damage in the business. Examples of insurance include fire, burglary, marine, motor vehicle, etc.

4. Transport:

This is the movement of humans and goods from one place to another by land, train, air, and sea. Examples are motor vehicles, aircraft, trains, boats, and ships.  

5. Communication:

It is a means of sending and receiving information from one person to another, through letters, telephone, radio, internet, memo, mobile phone, etc. 

6. E-commerce:

E-commerce: Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products, and services over electronic systems such as the internet.

E-commerce includes buying over the Internet, online banking, using a POS machine as a point of sale service, withdrawing money from the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) etc.

Benefits of E-commerce;

a. It provides a direct link between two people or an organisation.

b. It offers the opportunity to expand into the global market.   

c. It leads to increased sales and decreased costs.

d. Enables easy transfer of cash from one bank to another.

e. It enables the safe and easy withdrawal of cash.

7. Warehousing:

This is the process of storing finished products or raw materials for further production. The finished goods are kept in the warehouse, pending when they will be sold to the final consumer. Without warehousing, manufacturers cannot produce goods in large quantities.

8. Tourism:

This is the business of providing services for people who are travelling on holiday, sightseeing or leisure. Tourism is a major source of foreign exchange and investment. It aids trade because it generates employment and provides business opportunities.

Some Tourist Centres in Nigeria include;

i. Obudu cattle ranch in Cross River State.

ii. Ikogosi Water Falls in Erin Ijesha Osun State.

iii. Zoological Graden In Ibadan.

iv. Kuta Falls in Cross River State.

v. Ogba Zoo and Nature Park in Benin City, Edo State.