Q........... acts as a connective link between the producer and the consumer.

Commerce is the bridge that connects producers and consumers, so the answer is (c).

Commerce covers trade and all the activities that assist trade (transport, banking, insurance, warehousing, advertising). Its role is to move goods from where they are produced to where they are consumed.

Why (c) Commerce:

• It removes the hindrances of person, place, time, finance, risk and information, thereby linking producers with consumers.
• Industry (b) only creates goods; it does not distribute them. …

Commerce acts as the connective link between the producer and the consumer, option (a).

Business activity is classified into industry and commerce. Commerce is that part of business concerned with the distribution of goods and services; it includes trade (the actual buying and selling) and the aids to trade (transport, banking, insurance, warehousing, advertising, etc.). Goods produced by industry are of no use until they reach consumers, and several hindrances stand in the way — hindrance of place (distance), time (gap between production and consumption), finance, risk, and lack of information. Commerce removes all these hindrances and thereby links producers with consumers.

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