Wholesale Trade Survey (ANZSIC96)

Population covered All economically significant kind-of-activity units (KAU's) on the SNZ Business Frame (BF) that have an ancillary classification of ANZSIC Division F (Wholesale). This Division includes all units mainly engaged in wholesale trade. The term ‘wholesale trade’ is used here in the broad sense to include the resale (as agents or principals) of new or used goods to businesses or to institutional (including Government) users. Businesses mainly engaged in wholesale trade are wholesale merchants who take title to the goods they sell; separate sales branches (not being retail stores) operated by manufacturing enterprises; commission agents, import and export agents; petroleum products distributors; and co-operatives and marketing boards engaged in marketing farm based products. Units mainly engaged in reselling their own goods by auction are included in this Division, but units which are mainly engaged in providing auctioning services for others are included in Division L Property and Business Services. Units mainly engaged in selling their goods to non-end users are included in this Division, but units which are mainly engaged in selling their goods to end users are included in Division G Retail Trade. An example: a unit selling a motorcycle to a farmer for use on the farm is classified as Wholesaling since it is a sale to a business and the product is used in the farm production process. In the case of units which have goods manufactured for them on commission or contract a variety of situations are encountered with different treatments applicable to each. However, in general, if a unit has no goods producing facilities itself then all its sales of goods produced for it on commission are treated for classification purposes as wholesale or retail sales, as appropriate. Statistical Unit Kind-of-activity unit (KAU) Statistical Units and the Business Frame The statistical units on the BF are Enterprises, kind of activity units (KAUs) and geographic units (GEOs). Selection Unit Enterprise Enterprises on the BF considered for selection are those that have one or more wholesaling KAUs. Enterprises with more than one KAU (where at least one KAU is in wholesaling) are automatically selected. Collection Unit Kind-of-activity unit Under Coverage There are 3 main types of undercoverage Wholesaling activity at a level beneath the selection unit - KAUs on the BF are derived units composed of one or more geographic units. A geographic unit is a separate operating unit engaged in New Zealand in one, or predominately one, kind of economic activity from a single physical location or base. Some KAUs will have geographic units which are classified to wholesaling on the BF but because this is not the predominant activity of the KAU the KAU will have a different classification, for example, manufacturing. These KAUs are not eligible to be included in the Wholesale Trade Survey. Note that wholesaling KAUs that contain non-wholesaling GEOs have all their activity included in WTS. Therefore, as in this collections case, there can be some overcoverage too. Activity from units which are excluded from selection ie not economically significant. Activity from units who are not on the BF (eg those not GST registered with IRD), and very new registrations that have not been processed. Population and Sample Size Postal sample approximately 1,100 kind-of-activity units. Administrative (tax) stratum approximately 13,500 kind-of-activity units. Population approximately 16,000 kind-of-activity units. Seasonal Adjustment The seasonally adjusted series removes the effect of regular climatic or calendar events. This allows direct comparison between figures from different periods. The X12-ARIMA package is used to produce seasonally adjusted figures and trend estimates. All seasonally adjusted figures are subject to revision each quarter. Trend Estimates A trend estimate is one in which both the seasonal and irregular components have been removed. Once confirmed, trend estimates reveal the underlying direction of movements in a series. Trend estimates indicate turning points more accurately than seasonally adjusted estimates. The wholesaling sales trend series is also calculated using the X12-ARIMA seasonal adjustment package. It is based on optimal weighted moving averages of the seasonally adjusted series with an adjustment for outlying values. Trend estimates towards the end of the series incorporate new data as it becomes available and can therefore change as more observations are added to the series. Revisions can be particularly large if an observation is treated as an outlier in one period, but is found to be part of the underlying trend as further observations are added to the series. All trend estimates are subject to revision each month but normally only the last two or three estimates are likely to be substantially altered. en-NZ