The Consumer Goods Retail subsector consists of the Multiline and Specialty Retailers & Distributors and E-commerce industries.

• The Multiline and Specialty Retailers & Distributors industry encompasses a variety of retailing categories such as department stores, mass merchants, home products stores, and warehouse clubs, as well as a smaller segment of distributors like electronics wholesalers and automotive wholesalers. Common to these companies (except for the distribution segment) is that they manage global supply chains to anticipate consumer demands, keep costs low, and keep products stocked in their brick-and-mortar storefronts. This is a highly competitive industry, in which each company category generally has a small number of key players, characterized by generally low margins. The relatively substitutable nature of retail makes companies in this industry especially susceptible to reputational risks.
• The E-Commerce industry is composed of firms that provide an online marketplace for other firms or individuals to sell their goods and services, as well as retailers and wholesalers that provide an exclusively web-based platform for consumers to buy goods and services. Firms in this industry sell to consumers as well as to other businesses. Because of the accessibility of e-commerce sites, the industry is a global marketplace for buyers and sellers. Note: The industry scope exclusively applies to “pure-play” e-commerce operations and does not address the manufacturing or brick-and-mortar retail operations of companies. Many consumer goods manufacturers and retailers have incorporated, or are in the process of incorporating, an e-commerce component to their business. SASB has separate standards for the Multiline and Specialty Retailers & Distributors (CG-MR); Apparel, Accessories & Footwear (CG-AA); and Toys & Sporting Goods (CG-TS) industries. Depending on the specific activities and operations of firms in the aforementioned industries, disclosure topics and accounting metrics associated with the E-Commerce industry standard may also be relevant.