The Impact Of The Economic Crisis On Distributive Trade And Value Chains

The global economic crisis that started from the developed economies has affected all world countries including Croatia. The changed market conditions demanded a quick adjustment, and thus the restructuring of value chains. Value chains proved to be very elastic, so companies adjusted their purchasing processes to a changing environment and turned into a different way of doing business. The aim of this paper is to investigate to what extent the economic crisis affected the distributive trade in the Republic of Croatia and also the supply or value chains. Distributive trade is defined as the totality of all forms of trade activities, from the procurement of goods from the manufacturer, to delivery these goods to the consumers. It includes wholesale and intermediation trade, retail and trade in motor vehicles and motorcycles trade. We analyzed the turnover, persons employed and stores in distributive trade for five-year period. The approach of creating value through the value of products or company or by creating added value is one of the key elements of management strategies. In order to stay competitive, companies must develop competencies that will differentiate them from others, turn to differentiation and specialization, and select profitable, viable market niche.