Strategic Brand Management of international fashion retailers Mohammad reza moshkani Dr. Economic Development Pendar.3516@yahoo.com Abstract: In today’s high street fashion competition fashion retailers are adopting strategies to compete and survive in order to capture and maintain market share. Being a seasonal and highly volatile market the fashion market is always vulnerable to the concept of ‘fading-out’. Everyday a new design, style, fad or fashion develops and becomes hype hence fading out the previous fashion. The retailers that keep up the pace of this fast development and creativity manage to survive, while those left behind, become extinct. This paper examines the brand management strategies that fashion retailers would adopt to compete in the international market. From the process of internationalisation, to devising brand strategies, to taking the right decisions of brand management, all of the issues are equally important and carry immense importance. Although there are many dimensions of brand management, but only three major themes are highlighted in this paper, which prove vital for the success of fashion retail brand. Keywords: Brand Management, Retail Internationalisation, Fashion Retailing, Retail mix Introduction: With the advent of the 21st century, and the new phenomenon of globalisation, the world markets have become closer and are shrinking in size and getting highly saturated yet volatile. This gives rise to competition and survival of the fittest makes the competition even more intense. This is the exact scenario at the current retail sector of the world. With the high street wars amongst the retail giants, the ever increasing competition not only gives rise to more options but much better presentation for a customer to choose from. Hence, the bigger retail giants make low budget retailers difficult for them to survive. Furthermore, in order to survive in this high paced and intensely competitive market place there is a need to design a marketing strategy with a clear differentiating stance. Global retail sector has seen a tremendous growth in the last few decades. The global retailing industry group grew by 4.9 percent in 2003 to reach a value of $4.68 trillion. (Data Monitor – 2004). Historically retail operation has been limited to a national level, as every country had a distinct national retail system. However, due to expansion of markets and rise in accessibility, the scope of retailing operation is becoming more international. Cross country retail operations has been going on since long and as a result of international exposure, the Internationalisation of Retailing has become a known phenomenon. Although retail internationalisation has been in practice since a long time, the academic contribution towards this subject is somewhat limited. There has been some quality research on retail internationalisation relating to its diversified fields such as the motivations to go international, the whole process of internationalisation, individual company experiences and the direction of a company towards internationalisation (Alexander 1990). There has been some literature on grocery retailing and brand images of retailers across borders (Myers et al, 1997), but one aspect of retail internationalisation that has remained relatively under researched has been the issue of brand management of international retailers. While the internationalisation of retailing continues to be the source of much academic and practitioner attention (McGoldrick and Davies, 1995; Akehurst and 2 Alexander, 1996; Sternquist, 1997; Vida and Airburst, 1998), the brand management of internationalised retailers remains an under developed subject. The following research paper undertakes the subject of brand management of international retailers and explores different aspects of brand management and identifies the level of brand consistency towards the international markets. There has been little empirical research on ‘exporting’ the retail image to the international market whereby the issue of competitive positioning and strategic branding should be taken into consideration. The focus of this paper is international fashion retailers and its brand management strategies. Fashion retailing is emerging as one of the most challenging areas of business activity in the western world. Uncertainties in demand, shrinking selling seasons, lengthening delivery lead times, increasing competition and thinning margins together make the job of the retailer truly daunting. This paper starts by examining the different motives and reasons for a fashion retailer to go international and how this process takes place. The literature review would analyse and support the motivation for a fashion retailer going international and expanding its operations in the global market. The focus then dwells onto the marketing strategies of these fashion retailers and in identifying different aspects of branding strategies that position an international fashion retailer in the new global competitive market. The development of a strong brand in the domestic market, in terms of store image, product, and customer service, would seem to form the basis for long-term viability and success in international markets. The research questions highlighted in this paper are, how does a fashion brand position itself in the international market, and how does it want the international customer to perceive its brand image. In this regard, key issues concerning strategic brand management would be identified in relation to international fashion retailer in the global market. A conceptual framework would then be developed. 3 Literature Review: The literature review would cover two major interlinked topics. First the internationalisation of fashion retailers and second linking it to the brand management strategies to be adopted in the international market. There would be several sub-topics reviews under both the major strands of literary contributions towards the subject. The purpose of this paper is to identify the major international brand management strategies that would contribute towards the success of an international fashion retail brand. Retail Internationalisation: Whilst retail internationalization practice has a long history, academic research into retail internationalization is a more recent phenomenon. Hollander’s (1970) early work emphasised the effect of political and economic climate on the development of international operations, highlighting the importance of declining domestic opportunities as a factor in retail internationalisation. Hollander (1970) has been termed as the first important researcher on the subject of Retail internationalization. The largest stream of literature focuses on bilateral flows of investment and concentrates on documenting firms’ moves, stressing the relative advantages which can explain why they enter into a given market thus leading to internationalisation. Waldman (1978), Treadgold (1988, 1990), Salmon and Tordjman (1989), Burt (1991), and more explicitly Robinson and Clarke-Hill (1990), Pellegrini (1991), Alexander, N (1990, 1993, 1994, 1998), and Whithead (1992) attempted to explain the motivation behind going international and explained the process of internationalisation. Motives to go international: The drivers inducing the motive of internationalisation, include saturation within home markets compounded by economic downturns, legislation blocking expansion, shareholder pressures for growth, high operating costs, market driven pressures for growth, opportunities as overseas markets open up and even an element of the ‘metoo syndrome’ (Doherty, 1999). In contrast to manufacturers, however, retailers must 4 be physically present wherever they are doing business, and structural and cultural characteristics make it harder to operate across distinctive national markets. Retailers’ performance in local markets is highly sensitive to variations in consumer behaviour and segmentation: consumer tastes and buying and spending patterns differ considerably across the international market place therefore hampering global sourcing. Halls worth, Alan (2001), identified further topics and issues to be explored such as different modes of entry, international competition and international retail growth. Further research by Tread gold, (1988, 1990, 1992), Alexander, (1989, 1990) and Wrigley (1989, 1992) suggest that by identifying a gap in the existing research on retail management, one can measure the factors influencing success and failure of international retailing. The increased visibility of retail internationalisation over the past three decades has stimulated a significant volume of academic research. A number of common themes have emerged, as authors have explored the volume and direction of investment (Hollander, 1970; Hamill and Crosbie, 1990; Burt, 1991, 1993; Myers and Alexander, 1997; Muniz-Martinez, 1998), the motivations for internationalisation (Alexander, 1990, 1995; Williams, 1991; Quinn, 1999), and the role and choice of market entry mechanisms (Quinn, 1998; Doherty, 2000; Gielens and Dekimpe, 2001). Studies of specific retail sectors and geographically determined flows have been accompanied by case studies of ‘‘exemplars’’ of retail expansion (e.g. Treadgold, 1991; Laulajainen, 1991; Wrigley, 1997). Others have developed frameworks categorizing international retailers on the basis of behavioural criteria—most notably business culture and market responsiveness (Treadgold, 1988, 1990; Salmon and Tordjman, 1989; Simpson and Thorpe, 1995; Helferich et al., 1997; Alexander and Myers, 2000). Many retailers struggle internationally yet most research explores success (for example the texts and special issues of Akehurst and Alexander 1996; Alexander 1997; Alexander and Doherty 2000; Brown and Burt 1992; Kacker 1985; McGoldrick and Davies 1995; Sternquist 1998; Sternquist and Kacker 1994). 5 Alexander, A (1999, 2001) and Shaw, G (1999), has significantly contributed on the history of retail internationalisation. It is evident from these studies that past performance can be a very good source of learning, identifying factors of success, and attributes of failure. Thus preventing further failure and identify success factors for the retail industry in the international market. The considerable expansion of international activity by retailers since the early 1980s has generated an upsurge of academic study of the process. What has become evident from these studies is that retailer internationalization is a very different process from that undertaken by manufacturers. It has also become evident that the established theoretical frameworks in international business require major modification if they are to be applied in a meaningful way to retailing. Despite the widespread incidence of failure in retail internationalization, the cynosure of academic study has been success. There has been considerable research on retailers like Marks and Spencer, Boots, Wal-mart, and likes of Next and Laura Ashley, but very few contributions have been made towards the brand management of these retail outlets. Hence there is a visible gap in the academic contributions on this subject. 6 Fashion Retailing: Fashion retailing is quite different from normal retailing. Typically, the demand for fashion goods develops during the course of a limited fashion season in the shape of a bell-shaped curve representing the beginning, growth, peaking and decline phases of the fashion life cycle. The bell may be skewed to the right or the left depending on the specific characteristics of an item. The demand at each price in each period of the season is uncertain and the sensitivity of demand to price varies during the season. Goods left over at the end of the fashion season fall drastically in value because demand practically disappears when the fashion season is over. Figure 1: Fashion Life Cycle: Source: CIM 2005. In any particular fashion market place, the consumer is faced with choice amongst a varied group of retail outlets, each developing and maintaining its own brand profile. The ability of each of these competitive retailers, and particularly those large chains competing for mass market, is dependent upon the distinct advantage one brand has on the market place. This advantage can be the basic customer perception, brand image, brand positioning, or any other branding attribute. With the intensifying competition in the international fashion market, there is a dire need of better marketing strategies to capture the interest and loyalty of customers. The challenge here is the diversification of customer base in the international market. The marketing strategy should target the needs of the customers that come from distinct backgrounds with different taste in fashion. Hence, a fashion retailer has to 7 keep in consideration all aspects of marketing and accessibility of its brand in the international market. The key marketing concepts that a retailer determines, is that of clear definition of target market, accessibility, communication and retail mix. Retail mix is a relatively new phenomenon, which refers to the combination of merchandise, price, advertising and promotion, customer service and selling, store layout and design. These combinations are used to attract and meet the needs of the target market of a fashion retailer (Dunne et al, 2002). Each and every aspect of this retail mix is very important and vital for a retailer. Different retail firms use different combination of retail mix to capture the market share. Some might use pricing and advertising as the dominant theme of retail marketing, while others would use marketing niche and customer services as a key to attract. Brand Management: A brand is termed as the key organizational asset. A successful fashion brand would seek to create a distinct brand image and personality (Doyle, 1991). De Chernatony and McDonald (1992) define a brand as “an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs most closely”. Dominant conceptualizations of brands and brand management evolved from unidimensional approaches, focused on role of brands as legal instruments and visual identification and differentiation devices, toward multidimensional views emphasizing holistic conceptions of brands comprising functional, emotional, relational and strategic dimensions (Low and Fullerton 1994; Ambler 1996; de Chernatony and Dall’Olmo Riley 1998a). Several authors have identified a marked shift in branding literature from the importance of image (Boulding, 1956), focusing on consumer’s perception of brand differentiation, to identity (Kapferer, 1997) which is more concerned with how a firm makes a brand unique. Hence a new concept of brand identity has evolved. (Marwick and Fill 1997, Hatch and Schultz 1997, Balmer and Stotvig 1997, Morison 1997, Wilson 1997, Balmer 1995, Melewar 2001, 2002, 2003). So the focus has gone beyond the graphic design and logo of the brand label, to corporate identity which signifies certain values and attributes contributed by the organization towards its brand management. 8 Brand Premium/Added value: A retail customer perceives a fashion brand as premium brand that carries added value. This added value can be in terms of design, brand repute, quality, or even hype. There have been two basic values identified by de Chernatony (1999) that contribute towards the brand premium. One is the functional value such as the price, technology, design and store layout. This functional value is a distinct attribute that a customer adds to the brand and distinguishes the brand from the rest. The second form of added value comes from emotional value. This value is derived from notions like advertising, internal branding, translating the retail brand into consumer taste, and even the shopping experience itself at the retail outlet. A customer values all these attributes and attaches these values to a fashion brand. These added values determine the success of a brand and only successful brands can have control over adding brand premiums onto the pricing of the products. If a brand is successful, it can command a premium price, allowing the retailer greater opportunities to maximise profitability with less need to discount prices (Doyle, 1991). Hence, a brand has to be able to differentiate itself positively and have the quality and added value to define a premium price. Brand Positioning: The basic strategic advantage a retailer can have in the competitive market is the positioning of their brand. All the marketing programmes should be targeted towards the better positioning of the brand and create a market position amongst its competitors (Ring et al 1980). Urban and Hauser (1993) state, "Positioning is critical for a new product. Not only must a new product deliver the benefits the customer needs, but it must do so better than competition” (p. 202). The fashion retailers target a particular segment of a market and position its brand accordingly to be perceived by its customers in a distinct manner. A retail brands position is derived from the perception of its product/service mix and its aggregate image among various customer target markets (Sayman et al 2002). This positioning is never permanent as it changes its direction and is time-related. It may change its direction because of several reasons. The major reasons of change in brand position is 9 change/improvement/development of product, change in store design and layout, change of brand image, change of competitor’s brand positioning and even change in fashion theme. In summary, a brand position is how a retail firm wants its customers to perceive the brand. Brand positioning depends upon how a company wishes itself to be projected in the minds of its target market. This can be in terms of pricing, design, specialty, quality, or the shopping experience. Different customers would perceive the brand position differently. Therefore, an aggregate consumer perception defines the market position of a particular brand. The concept of value to the customer is central to an effective positioning. Further, the brand must be able to communicate this value effectively to at least one segment of customers to get customers to switch to the brand. Aaker (1998) states, "A differentiation strategy must add value for the customer, and the added value must be perceived by the customer (pp. 164-165)." There are certain determinants that would define a particular market position of a brand. These include price level, accessibility, customer services, store layout and design, speciality fashion stores, and the shopping experience it offers to its target customers. For example, customers of Debenhams would not mind spending more time and money in the store because of two major reasons. Firstly, Debenhams is reputed for its designer labels with low price tags, and secondly, the store layout is very much attractive for any customer, and they would spend a long time enjoying the very experience of shopping at Debenhams. Hence, Debenhams has positioned itself in the minds of its customers as economic designer brands with high quality shopping experience. The most important strategic issue in international market positioning is to maintain the same standards throughout all retail outlets throughout the international market. A 10 fashion retail brand has to maintain its position in the international market all the time to convey its brand image in the consistent manner to its customers (Ailawadi 2004). But there can be certain instances where a particular brand would assert different positions in different international markets. This strategy is adopted when a fashion retail firm intends to have different perception for its customers due the different natures of different international markets. 11 Corporate Identity: Corporate identity has been defined as ‘a strategic manifestation of corporate-level vision and mission, underpinned by the strategies which a corporation employs in its operations or production; the marketing strategy and mix which determines the product/service brand; and the human resource strategy which affects the manner in which the product/services are delivered.’ (Melewar et al 2001) Corporate identity conveys the image of the company, its values and its brand image. Another definition of corporate identity is ‘the set of meanings by which a company allows itself to be known and through which it allows people to describe, remember and relate to it.’ (Topalian, 1984, p.56, Olins, 1989; Markwick and Fill, 1997). A fashion retail brand’s corporate identity would reflect the image it wants to convey and this can be act as a competitive advantage for the international fashion retailer over other firms. Melewar (2003) defined the taxanomy of corporate identity by identifying seven dimensions of corporate branding. These are corporate communication, corporate design, corporate culture, behaviour, corporate structure, industry identity, and corporate strategy. Each of these dimensions encapsulates different aspects of corporate branding and how would a firm communicate its image to its target customers. Hence, an international fashion retailer would carry its corporate identity to the foreign market and maintain a distinct market position accordingly. To summarize, the above three dimensions of brand management i.e. brand values, brand positioning and corporate identity would have the right combination to capture the market share in an international market for a fashion retail brand. 12 Conceptual Framework and research question: The above literature review has identified the three basic aspects of brand management that would determine and contribute towards the success of international fashion retail brand. This literature review has highlighted some brand management strategies that can be implemented by the international fashion retailer to capture the market. Although there is much to analyse and determine while discussing these three themes of brand management, yet a general concept can be developed to assess the impact of a fashion retail brand in the international market. The broad research question would be: RQ1: What strategic brand management measures would a fashion retailer take, while entering and competing in an international world? In other words, what measures of retail mix, market positioning, and corporate identity would a fashion retailer take, while entering or operating in an international market. A fashion retail brand has to face severe competition and market compatibility issues while going international. These constraints can be very threatening and has to be addressed in a very careful manner to capture and maintain a better position in the international market. Hence, continuing with the works of Treadgold (1990), it would be further investigated that whilst in a process of retail internationalization, going through different stages, how does a retail company position its brand and how does that affect its brand equity in the international market. Hence the research would narrow its focus on the effects of retail internationalisation on global fashion retail brands. William (2001) has contributed a very informative research regarding the factors contributing towards the internationalization of a retail brand and the motives for a retail brand to go international. He also has identified certain obstacles and constraints for these global retail brands whilst going international. This gives rise to another research question: RQ2: What affects does internationalisation have on the brand management of a fashion retailer? 13 In its explanation, how the brand management of a fashion retailer would be affected when entering an international market. This concept can be seen as the opposite direction of research question one. Different international markets have different attributes and different perception. Now if a fashion retailer has a distinct market position in one market, and the other market carries different attributes, then the fashion retailer would adopt a new market position and branding strategies in this second market. Hence a fashion retailer would adopt different branding strategies according to the demand and perception of the international market. Referring back to the literature review, continuing with Treadgold (1990), Doherty (2000) and Burt (1992), the attributes of success can be measured. It is quite evident from these contributions that a retailer success is based upon the strategic branding and positioning in the right market and the right time. From the very instance of internationalisation, a fashion retailer has to have a strong motive to expand and grow in the international market. A thorough market study and international market trend analysis is required to be conducted prior to making any decision to go international. This would make the subject firm be in a better position to make branding and positioning decisions. Furthermore, a firm should carefully choose its mode of entry in the new international market (Doherty, 1999). Here again, it depends upon how strong the brand position is of the fashion brand in the new market. The stronger the brand position is, the higher risk the firm can take by choosing from choices such as exporting, wholesaling, organic growth, merger and acquisition, franchising, joint venture, licensing, in-store concessions, and to a much lesser extent, management contracts. Stores like Debenhams, BHS, Marks and Spencer and Mothercare have entered throughout the Middle East starting slow and now taking a better strategic branding position. Looking at the conservative society of the Middle East, these fashion brands changed its normal market position and adapted to the culture of the new market. Hence, the market image of these retail brands was competitive at the domestic level in the Middle East. The mode of entry for these brands was slow yet very careful as well, looking at the market trends, and once a better brand position was acquired, the firms took a proper entry mode. Referring to the concepts of brand premium and corporate identity, taking into consideration the example of Debenhams (Jones, 2003), it replicated its corporate 14 brand image in the Middle East but with slight changes adapting to the local demands and culture. This amendment came in the form of not highlighting feminine liberty and keeping the decency of the society intact. This new market position coupled with UK branding and quality was highly accepted and created the added value in the niche market. Customers, who had visited Debenhams in UK, had the same brand feeling when shopping at Debenhams Middle East. Hence, Debenhams gives the same shopping experience to its customers across the international market. This contributes towards the success of the brand. The conceptualisation model for brand management of fashion retail firm in an international market explains the different dimensions that carry equal importance while going international. This careful brand management would determine the success of a fashion retail brand in the international market. 15 Conclusion and further scope for research: This paper has identified the strategic importance of brand management while going international for a fashion retailing firm. It identified three major themes of brand management that define its success in the international market. While going to a complete new international market, each of these three themes can be broken into separate dimensions and strategically implemented to compete with rival brands. The interlinked themes of brand management need the best combination to evaluate a success of a brand. This paper leads to future research activities as well. There is a scope for research on subjects like evaluating and measuring the success of a fashion retail brand after implementing the brand management strategies. It can be evaluated as to how successful the branding strategies were and which attribute contributed most towards this success. Another aspect for further research can be the study of consumer perception in the international market towards these international fashion retail brands. How would a customer perceive a particular fashion brand entering an international market equipped with its branding strategies, and how would this customer position this brand while competing with local and already present fashion brand in the market. Brand management trends in international market can be compared to that of domestic market and observed how much a brand needs to adapt towards the internationalised market and not losing its corporate identity. Sometimes replicating the corporate identity is a necessity to convey the brand image, but sometimes due to international market trends, the brand image needs to be slightly changed. To what extent this change can occur and how flexible a fashion retail corporate identity is, can be a measure of further research study. 16 Motive Fashion Retail Brand Internationalisation Brand Premium Brand Management Mode of Entry Brand Positioning Retail Mix Corporate Identity Brand Perception International Market Conceptual model for brand management of a fashion retailer in an international market 17 References: - Aaker, David A. (1998), Strategic Market Management, Fifth edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - Ailawadi, K. and Keller, K.L. (2004), Understanding retail branding: conceptual insights and research priorities, Journal of retailing, 80 (2004) 331–342 - Alexander, N. (1990) Retailers and international markets: motives for expansion. International Marketing Review 7(4), 75–85. - Alexander, N. (1995) UK retail expansion in North America and Europe: a strategic dilemma. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 2(2), 75–82. - Akehurst, G. and Alexander, N. (1996), The Internationalisation of Retailing, Frank Cass. Alexander, N. - Ambler, T. (1996), “Measuring Marketing Performance”, Pan’agra Working Paper No. 96-904, Centre for Marketing, London Business School. - Burt, S., Mellahi, K., Jackson, T.P. and Sparks, L. (2002) Retail internationalisation and retail failure: issues from the case of Marks and Spencer. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 12, 191–219. - de Chernatony, L. (1999), “Brand Management Through Narrowing the Gap Between Brand Identity and Brand Reputation”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 15, pp. 157-179. - de Chernatony, L. and Dall’Olmo Riley, F. (1998a), “Defining a “Brand”: Beyond the Literature with Experts’ Interpretations”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 14, pp. 417-443. - de Chernatony, L. and McDonald, M.H.B. (1992), Creating Powerful Brands, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. - Dunne, P.M. Lusch, P.F. and Griffith, D.A, (2002), Retailing, Harcourt College Publishers, Foxworth, TX. - Doyle, P. (1991), “Branding”, in Baker, M.J. (Ed.), The Marketing Book, 2nd ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. - Doherty, A.M. (1999), Explaining international retailer’s market entry mode; internationalisation theory, agency theory, and the importance of asymmetry 18 information, International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, October 9:4, 379-402. - Hollander, S.C. (1970) Multinational retailing. Michigan State University, East Lansing. - Hamill, J. and Crosbie, J. (1990) British retail acquisition in the US. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 18(5), 15–20. - Global Retailing, (2004), Data Monitor. - Gielens, K. and Dekimpe, M.G. (2001) Do international entry decisions of retail chains matter in the long run? International Journal of Research in Marketing 18(3), 235–259. - Helferich, E., Hinfelaar, M. and Kasper, H. (1997) Towards a clear terminology on international retailing. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 7(3), 287–307. - Jones, G. (2003), "Middle East expansion – the case of Debenhams", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 31 No.7, - J. Ring, Charles W. King, and Douglas J. Tigert (1980), ‘Market Structure analysis and retail positioning’ ; in Competitive Structure in Retail Markets; The Department Store Perspective, Elizabeth C. Hershman and Ronald Stampfl eds. (Chicago, American Marketing Association). - Laulajainen, R. (1991) Two retailers go global: the geographical dimension. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 1(5), 607–626. - Low, G. S. and Fullerton, R. A. (1994), “Brands, Brand Management and the Brand Manager System: A Critical Historical Evaluation”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 14, May, pp. 173-190. - McGoldrick, P.J. and Davies, G. (1995), International Retailing: Trends and Strategies, London, Pitman Publishing. - Melewar TC. and Wooldridge, W. (2001). The dynamics of corporate identity: A review of a process model, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 327-340. - Melewar, TC. (2002), Leveraging corporate identity in the digital age, Marketing and Intelligence Planning, Vol. 20, No. 2. 19 - Melewar TC, (2003), Determinants of the corporate identity construct: a review of the literature, Journal of Marketing Communications, No. 9, pp. 195-220. - Muniz-Martinez, N. (1998) The internationalisation of European retailers in America: the US experience. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 26(1), 29–37. - Myers, H. and Alexander, N. (1997) Food retail operations in Eastern Europe. European Business Review 97(3), 124–133 - McGoldrick, P. (1998) Spatial and temporal shifts in international retail image. Journal of Business Research 42, 189–196. - Olins, W. (1991), The power of corporate identity, World Executive’s Digest October, 34-9. - Pelligrini, L. (1991) The internationalisation of retailing and 1992 Europe, Journal of Marketing Channels, 1(2), pp. 3–27. - Pelligrini, L. (1994) Alternatives for growth and internationalization in retailing, The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 4(2), pp. 121–148. - Quinn, B. (1998) Towards a framework for the study of franchising as an operating mode for international retail companies. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 8(4), 445–467. - Sayman, S. Hoch, S.J. and Raju, J.S. (2002), Positioning of Store Brands, Marketing Sceince 21(4) 378-397. - Salmon, W.J. and Tordjman, A. (1989) The internationalisation of retailing. International Journal of Retailing 4(2), 3–16. - Sternquist, B. (1998), International Retailing, Fairchild Books. - Simpson, E.M. and Thorpe, D. (1995) A conceptual model of strategic consideration for international retail expansion. Service Industries Journal 15(4), 16–24. - Treadgold, A.D. (1990) The emerging internationalisation of retailing: present status and future strategies. Irish Marketing Review 5(2), 11–27. - Treadgold, A.D. (1991) Dixons and Laura Ashley’s different routes to international growth. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 19(4), 13–19. 20 - Topalian, A. (1984), Corporate Identity; Beyond the visual overstatements, International Journal of Advertising, 31(5), 695-702. - Urban, Glen L. and John R. Hauser (1993), Design and Marketing of New Products, Second Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 213-216. - Vida, I. and Fairhurst, A. (1998), “International Expansion of Retail Firms: A Theoretical Approach for Future Investigations”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 5, 3, pp.143-51. - Wrigley, N. and Currah, A. (2003) The ‘‘stresses’’ of retail internationalisation: lessons from Royal Ahold’s experience in Latin America. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research 13, 221– 243. 21