The 1992 Census of Retail Trade, part of the 1992 Economic Census, covered retail trade as defined in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual: 1987 (SIC). It included all establishments primarily engaged in selling merchandise for personal or household consumption and rendering services incidental to the sale of the goods. The census excluded governmental organizations classified in the covered industries except for liquor stores operated by State and local governments. Data for direct sellers (SIC 5963) with no paid employees and post exchanges, ship stores, and similar establishments operated on military posts by agencies of the Federal Government were not included. The basic tabulations in this report do not include data for establishments which are auxiliary (primary function is providing a service, such as warehouses) to retail establishments within the same organization. Data for auxiliaries are presented in a subsequent report issued as part of the 1992 Enterprise Statistics reports.

For the 1992 Census of Retail Trade, large- and medium-size firms, plus all firms known to operate more than one establishment, were sent questionnaires to be completed and returned to the Census Bureau by mail. For most very small firms, including those with no paid employees, data from existing administrative records of other Federal agencies were used instead. These records provided basic information on location, kind of business, sales, payroll, number of employees, and legal form of organization. In addition, more detailed information for selected kinds of business was obtained on the various questionnaires.