• General FAQs
• Sample Revision FAQs

For information on how to complete your survey, go to Information for Respondents and review the "Ready to Report or Need Assistance?" section, or go directly to the How Do I Get Started? page.

Back to Top

Yes, your response is required by law. Title 13 United States Code, Sections 131 and 182, authorizes this collection. Sections 224 and 225 require your response. The U.S. Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of the same law to keep your information confidential and can use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit your data.

Back to Top

Your company may have been selected to participate in the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES) in lieu of the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey. The AIES will replace the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey in 2024. Prior to full implementation, the U.S. Census Bureau will be collecting the AIES in 2023, with a smaller test in the spring of 2023 and a larger-scale data collection in the summer of 2023. These two collection efforts will stand in place of most of the current annual surveys for those companies sampled into the AIES in 2023. For more information regarding the AIES, please visit census.gov/aies. If you would like confirmation that your company has been selected to complete the AIES in lieu of the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey, please email emd.aies.help@census.gov.

Back to Top

Title 13 (Section 224) and the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (18, U.S.C. 3559 and 3571) allow for possible prosecution of responsible officials and penalties up to $5,000 (and still require a response).

Back to Top

• The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses these data for the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates and in developing the national accounts' input-output tables.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses these data as input to its Producer Price Indices and in developing productivity measurements.
• Trade and professional organizations use these data to analyze industry trends and benchmark their own statistical programs, develop forecasts, and evaluate regulatory requirements.
• The media use these data for news reports and background information.
• Private businesses use these data to measure market share, analyze business potential, and plan investments.

Back to Top

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.

Back to Top

AWTS covers firms classified in the Wholesale Trade sector as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Wholesale Trade, as defined by NAICS sector 42, includes establishments engaged in wholesaling merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise. The merchandise described in this sector includes the outputs of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and certain information industries, such as publishing.

The wholesaling process is an intermediate step in the distribution of merchandise. Wholesalers are organized to sell or arrange the purchase or sale of (a) goods for resale (i.e., goods sold to other wholesalers or retailers), (b) capital or durable nonconsumer goods, and (c) raw and intermediate materials and supplies used in production.

Wholesalers sell merchandise to other businesses and normally operate from a warehouse or office. These warehouses and offices are characterized by having little or no display of merchandise. In addition, neither the design nor the location of the premises is intended to solicit walk-in traffic. Wholesalers do not normally use advertising directed to the general public. Customers are generally reached initially via telephone, in-person marketing, or by specialized advertising that may include Internet and other electronic means. Follow-up orders are either vendor-initiated or client-initiated, generally based on previous sales, and typically exhibit strong ties between sellers and buyers. In fact, transactions are often conducted between wholesalers and clients that have long-standing business relationships.

This sector comprises two main types of wholesalers: merchant wholesalers that sell goods on their own account and business-to-business electronic markets, agents, and brokers that arrange sales and purchases for others generally for a commission or fee.

(1) Establishments that sell goods on their own account are known as wholesale merchants, distributors, jobbers, drop shippers, and import/export merchants. Also included as wholesale merchants are sales offices and sales branches (but not retail stores) maintained by manufacturing, refining, or mining enterprises apart from their plants or mines for the purpose of marketing their products and group purchasing organizations (e.g., purchasing and selling goods on their own account). Merchant wholesale establishments typically maintain their own warehouse, where they receive and handle goods for their customers. Goods are generally sold without transformation, but may include integral functions, such as sorting, packaging, labeling, and other marketing services.

(2) Establishments arranging for the purchase or sale of goods owned by others or purchasing goods, generally on a commission basis are known as business-to-business electronic markets, agents and brokers, commission merchants, import/export agents and brokers, auction companies, group purchasing organization (e.g., purchasing or arranging for the purchases of goods owned by others), and manufacturers' representatives. These establishments operate from offices and generally do not own or handle the goods they sell.

Some wholesale establishments may be connected with a single manufacturer and promote and sell the particular manufacturers' products to a wide range of other wholesalers or retailers. Other wholesalers may be connected to a retail chain, or limited number of retail chains, and only provide a variety of products needed by that particular retail operation(s). These wholesalers may obtain the products from a wide range of manufacturers. Still other wholesalers may not take title to the goods, but act as agents and brokers for a commission.

Although, in general, wholesaling normally denotes sales in large volumes, durable nonconsumer goods may be sold in single units. Sales of capital or durable nonconsumer goods used in the production of goods and services, such as farm machinery, medium and heavy duty trucks, and industrial machinery, are always included in wholesale trade.

Back to Top

AWTS estimates are published approximately 12 months after the reference year. For example, estimates for the 2020 reference year were released in December 2021.

Back to Top

Because estimates are based on a sample rather than the entire population, the published estimates may differ from the actual, but unknown, population values. In principle, many random samples could be drawn and each would give a different result. This is because each sample would be made up of different businesses who would give different answers to the questions asked.

Common measures of the variability among these estimates are the sampling variance, the standard error, and the coefficient of variation (CV). The sampling variance is defined as the squared difference, averaged over all possible samples of the same size and design, between the estimator and its average value. The standard error is the square root of the sampling variance. The CV expresses the standard error as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. For example, an estimate of 200 units that has an estimated standard error of 10 units has an estimated CV of 5 percent. The CV has the advantage of being a relative, rather than an absolute, measure and can be used to compare the reliability of one estimate to another.

Back to Top

The Census Bureau takes its commitment to confidentiality very seriously. It constantly pursues new procedures, technologies, and methodologies to safeguard individual data. Every person with access to person or business data, from the Director on down, is sworn by Title 13 to protect confidentiality and is subject to criminal penalties if they do not. Tight computer security and strict access and handling procedures are followed.

Back to Top

E-commerce sales are sales of goods and services where the buyer places an order, or the price and terms of the sale are negotiated, over an Internet, mobile device (M-Commerce), extranet, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network, electronic mail, or other comparable online system. Payment may or may not be made online.

Back to Top

A sample revision is the process used to re-design and re-select the samples for many of the Census Bureau's surveys of the retail, wholesale, and service industries. This process is performed to

• ensure each sample is representative of its target population
• improve the efficiency of each sample
• incorporate updates to the industry classification structure
• expand industry coverage of the survey
• update questions and instructions to obtain more accurate data, and
• redistribute burden for small and medium size businesses

The current Annual Wholesale Trade Survey sample was introduced in March 2018 with the release of estimates for reference year 2016.

Back to Top

Sample revisions are performed approximately every 5 to 7 years. During the period for which the samples are used, updates are made on a quarterly basis to reflect changes in the business universe. These updates are designed to account for new businesses (births) and businesses that discontinue operations (deaths). The samples are also updated to reflect mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, splits, and other changes to the business universe.

Back to Top

Annual Wholesale Trade Survey estimates based on the new sample were first released on March 14, 2018.

Back to Top

The size of the new and current Annual Wholesale Trade Survey samples is approximately 8,400 employer firms.

Back to Top

Yes. Estimates from different samples have been put on a comparable basis.

Back to Top