What are the social benefits of trade?
The social benefits of trade refer to the impact and influence of trade economic activities on social life. Socialist trade economic activities are social activities with extensive connections and services to all sides. It not only provides material objects for consumers and producers, but also spreads the achievements of spiritual civilization to the outside world and carries out extensive interpersonal communication activities. It maintains close economic ties and frequent social exchanges with all aspects of society. The particularity of socialist trade activities determines that trade departments and enterprises must attach great importance to social benefits while caring about their own economic interests. This is an inherent requirement for adhering to the socialist management direction and realizing the purpose of socialist production; it is also an objective need to improve corporate visibility, establish a good reputation, and strengthen market competitiveness; it is also an objective requirement for establishing a new socialist atmosphere and promoting the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.
The content of the social benefits of trade
The main content of the social benefits of trade can be summarized as follows:
First, the social and political effects of trade economic activities, mainly including trade departments and enterprises abiding by national laws and implementing relevant policies and policies of the Party and the State, strictly enforcing trade discipline, abiding by business ethics, advocating a good social atmosphere, and safeguarding the interests of the country and consumers.
Second, the service effect generated by trade economic activities is the actual effect of trade departments and enterprises providing various services to producers and consumers in their business activities, mainly including the impact of meeting the commodity needs of producers and consumers, good service attitude, enterprise service environment and internal service conditions on consumer purchasing behavior and purchasing psychology.
Third, the social benefits generated by trade economic activities refer to the direction and degree of trade activities on the development of social life, mainly including the promotion of socialist material and spiritual civilization construction, the overall quality of social development, the maintenance of social stability, national unity and people’s cohesion, centripetal force and promotion, whether it conforms to the law of social development and its impact. In addition, the impact of trade activities on the social ecological environment and natural environment is also an important part of the social benefits of trade activities. Trade activities should help maintain ecological balance, improve living environment and reduce various pollution.
Trade social benefit evaluation indicators
The evaluation and assessment of trade and social benefits are not as easy to count and calculate as economic benefits, especially the attention to trade and social benefits, which is often the result of the joint action of many factors and general conditions. According to the evaluation principles of trade and social benefits, the following indicators can generally be used to reflect.
(I) Commodity Sales Growth Rate
Commodity sales growth rate is the relative number of the difference between the current period’s commodity sales and the previous period’s commodity sales compared with the previous period’s commodity sales. It generally illustrates the growth of sales.
(II) Commodity Marketability
Commodity marketability refers to the adaptability of commodities to social consumer demand in terms of variety, quality, price, packaging, supply time, etc.
(III) Consumer Goods Purchasing Power Realization Rate
This indicator refers to the proportion of consumer goods retail sales in a certain period of time to the purchasing power of consumer goods, indicating the degree of guarantee of trade business activities for commodity demand with payment ability. According to specific circumstances, this comprehensive indicator can also be divided into the degree of realization of purchasing power of major commodities or major commodities. The higher the degree of guarantee, the higher the social benefits of trade.
(IV) Commodity Supply Satisfaction
Commodity supply satisfaction is the proportion of the number of commodity varieties (variety listed in the necessary commodity catalog) actually operated by the trading enterprise. It reflects the satisfaction of the number of commodities operated by the trading enterprise with consumer demand. The higher the commodity supply satisfaction, the more complete the commodity varieties of the trading enterprise, the higher the consumer demand, and the higher the social benefits. On the contrary, it means a decline in social benefits.
(V) Service Project Convenience Rate
The service project convenience rate is the ratio of service projects implemented by trade enterprises to developed service projects. It reflects the convenience of trade business activities for customer service. The higher the ratio, the more convenient it is for customers to buy in trade operations, and the higher the social benefits.
(VI) Retail Network Density
The retail network density refers to the degree to which the retail network adapts to the needs of residents in a certain area, usually expressed in terms of the average population served by each retail outlet.
(7) Social Contribution Rate
The social contribution rate is the ratio of the enterprise’s contribution to society to all assets, and is a measure of the ability of all assets of the enterprise to create value for the country and society. The total social contribution includes (including wage expenditures such as bonuses and allowances), welfare expenditures such as labor insurance and retirement master plans, net interest expenditures, taxes payable and net profits.
(VIII) Social Accumulation Rate
The social accumulation rate is the ratio of fiscal revenue to social contribution, and is a measure of the proportion of various taxes paid to the fiscal revenue in the total social contribution.
In addition to the above indicators, the social benefits of trade can also be indirectly reflected:
(1) Comparison of the praise, rewards, criticism and punishment of trade enterprises by market management departments and relevant state units at different times can reflect the performance of enterprises in fulfilling their social responsibilities.
(2) Comparison of consumers’ praise or criticism of enterprises and employees at different times can reflect the quality of enterprise services.
(3) Changes in the internal operating conditions of enterprises at different times reflect the efforts of enterprises in creating a suitable environment for consumers to shop and facilitating the masses.
(4) Evaluation of the reputation and service status of trade enterprises by social departments such as banks, health, commercial inspection, communications, transportation, water and electricity, which are widely connected with the trade industry.
The difference and connection between the social benefits of trade and the economic benefits of trade
The social benefits of trade show that it is different from economic benefits. The difference between them is:
First, the economic benefits of trade refer to the comparison between the results of trade operations and labor consumption and occupation, while the social benefits of trade refer to the role and impact of trade on social life and social development.
Secondly, the economic benefits of trade can be calculated and evaluated by several economic indicators, while the social benefits of trade are difficult to measure and should be evaluated indirectly in other forms.
Third, the basic way to improve the economic benefits of trade is to save labor costs, requiring saving inputs and increasing outputs on the premise of meeting social needs. Improving the social benefits of trade mainly involves strengthening ideological, cultural and commercial technical education, requiring employees to engage in commercial activities, strictly implementing the policies, policies and regulations of the Party and the State, and striving to improve service quality.
Finally, the improvement of the economic benefits of trade can bring visible and tangible material benefits to enterprises and their employees, while the improvement of the social benefits of trade is to promote the coordinated development of economy and culture, while ensuring that social consumption needs are met, making the benefits hidden and universal.
The economic benefits and social benefits of trade have both different and interrelated aspects. The economic benefits of trade are the basis of social benefits, and social benefits are an important condition for promoting the improvement of economic benefits. Socialist trade economic work should combine economic benefits with social benefits to achieve the combination of the two benefits.
Ways to improve the social benefits of trade
(I) Vigorously strengthen the professional ethics of trade practitioners and promote the in-depth development of civilized business
Trade activities are a kind of social activities with extensive connections and strong penetration. The ideological and moral level of trade personnel is directly reflected in the moral level of trade activities, which affects the social atmosphere. Therefore, we should pay special attention to improving the professional ethics of trade personnel. The core of socialist morality is to serve the people. In trade work, we should strengthen the ideological education of the people, strengthen the education of professional ethics and professional responsibilities, strengthen the implementation of policies, and protect the education of consumer rights and interests, and oppose materialism, hedonism and extreme individualism. Make all trade personnel firmly establish the view of serving consumers and sincerely meet the needs of consumers. At the same time, we should pay attention to the combination of moral education with discipline education and cultural and commercial technical training of employees, and implement reward and punishment measures. Different trade industries should formulate targeted codes of conduct based on the moral tendencies of employees in business operations, and pay attention to the actual effects of moral education. Only in this way can trade and social benefits have a good ideological foundation. Different trade industries should formulate targeted codes of conduct based on the moral issues of employees in business operations, and pay attention to the actual effects of moral education.
(II) Improve service attitude, service quality, and service level
Service attitude and service quality are important manifestations of social benefits and are also issues of general concern to the society. At the same time, it is also an important factor for consumers to praise and criticize enterprises. Focusing on social benefits, efforts must be made to improve the quality of trade services. First, scientifically formulating trade activity service standards and trade activity service standardization is the basic work to improve service quality and social benefits. Secondly, expand service items and carry out a series of multifunctional services. Multifunctional services include not only joint service items that are expanded and derived within the scope of industry services, but also some cross-industry service items. In short, in order to do everything possible to meet the needs of consumers, the trade department should strive to increase service items under feasible and possible conditions, and formulate corresponding service standards and management norms to expand social influence and improve economic and social benefits. Third, strive to improve the service environment of trade activities. Trade activities
Dynamic places as service environments, from store layout, product display, container decoration, channel design, lighting, color, music, packaging, decoration should strive to be beautiful, scientific, practical, avoid vulgarity and waste, resolutely eliminate the influence of various bad cultures, achieve the unity of economic effects, artistic effects and social effects, attract consumers’ attention, adapt to consumers’ spiritual needs, and create a good shopping, viewing and service environment for consumers.
(III) Establish and improve necessary reward and punishment supervision mechanisms to improve social benefits
In order to improve the social benefits of trade, there must be a normal reward and punishment system and supervision mechanism. First, combine the economic benefit indicators of trade enterprises with social benefit indicators, implement employee labor remuneration and economic benefits, social benefits, improve the awareness, initiative and sense of responsibility of employees of trade enterprises to pay attention to social benefits, and prevent only talking about economic benefits without talking about social benefits, or even damaging social benefits, and seeking the improper tendency of so-called economic benefits. Secondly, actively carry out social supervision activities such as mass supervision, news supervision, administrative supervision, and legal supervision, listen to the opinions of all walks of life at any time, and improve trade activities. Third, we should earnestly correct the unhealthy trends in the industry, constantly correct business practices, safeguard the reputation of socialist trade enterprises, and promote the improvement of the social atmosphere.