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Retail leakages caused by an increasing number of outshopping to other countries has become a growing concern among retailers in border areas. This research seeks to examine the shopping behaviour and attitudes of Singaporeans in neighboring Malaysia and, specifically, the influence of demographic and retail characteristics on outshopping. The importance of various types of secondary costs of outshopping and the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on attitudes toward outshopping are also explored. Findings reveal that food, beverage and grocery products are the most commonly outshopped items. Competitive prices and ample parking space are major reasons for outshopping frequently. Frequent outshoppers perceive fewer secondary costs than infrequent outshoppers and, as a whole, they do not feel unwelcome or guilty when outshopping. In short, this research suggests that, as consumers engage in outshopping primarily for economic reasons, they do not experience a lack of national pride or low consumer ethnocentrism.

Movement of people from one retail trade area to another in search of better options and deals has been studied across the world owing to its large impact on trade flow. Studies have been done in various rural and urban settings. However, almost all except one fails to provide a comprehensive model of outshopping which has its own limitations with regard to its applicability’s across cultures and in various settings. Nonetheless findings from the literature provides necessary inputs to start studies in various other cultures and settings. Results are presented in form of various definitions, various types, methodologies used, factors identified (individual characteristics, market characteristics, product related variables and accessibility factors) and patterns across continents. Attempts have also been made to explain their applicability to Indian conditions along with various limitations and gaps.

Most of the published research on outshopping (consumers buying goods in places outside their home town) has been American. This is an analysis of outshopping from Newtown, Wales, UK. Information based upon a survey of over 300 households was collected relating to recent places of purchase for six different types of comparison goods. Generally, car owners were more likely, and older residents less likely to have recently purchased goods outside Newtown. Outshopping was also related to negative attitudes to Newtown′s shopping centre and positive attitudes to shopping else‐where. A logit regression analysis shows that demographic and attitudinal characteristics can both have important and independent effects upon outshopping behaviour. However, out‐shopping for do‐it‐yourself products, electrical goods and furniture appears less systematically related to these characteristics than does out‐shopping for clothing, footwear and furnishings.

This paper aims to investigate Chinese consumers' international outshopping motives from a culture perspective based on Hofstede's four cultural dimensions.

Four international outshopping motives that may affect Chinese consumer's propensity of shopping abroad were empirically investigated based on a sample of 174 Chinese consumers who participated in a mall intercept survey.

The results suggest that Chinese consumers' perceived expressiveness of using foreign products, perceived reliability of foreign retail service, and perceived enjoyment of shopping abroad have positive and significant impacts on their propensity of shopping abroad. In addition, their perceived morality to support domestic industries does not significantly affect their outshopping behavior, although consumer ethnocentrism was regarded as an issue in China.

Outshoppers from China are increasingly found in the stores and malls in Western countries. The findings offer an insightful call for retailers and distributors in the West to understand how to make effective marketing strategies to target Chinese outshoppers and how to predict their behaviors when the global market gradually opens to Chinese consumers.

The identified motives represent a deeper understanding of Chinese consumers and their cultural environment.

The study seeks to understand the influences on the prevalence of rural retailing institution of periodic markets. It examines the influence of access to and population of the location on the performance of periodic markets and their effect on the competition between periodic markets and local rural retail stores.

Simultaneous cross-sectional study on census data is used to understand changes in performance of periodic markets in the context of growth in retail stores.

The superior performance of local retail shop compared to outshopping in periodic markets is contrary to observation in literature developed in the context of urban outshopping.

Retail chains need to develop a separate program for location of outlets that serve rural areas as access influences retail performance. In rural areas marketers can use traditional periodic markets in addition to conventional retail store given the limited inter-format retail competition.

This is one of the few studies to explicitly examine periodic markets as a retail format. Outshopping is studied in the context of growth in local retail stores unlike earlier studies in the urban context where the local stores exhibit reduced sales.

Net retail trade flow and outshopping specifically have been examined from a variety of different aspects. All earlier works used some “adjusted” income data to determine total retail expenditures; however, these expenditures were not adjusted according to spending behaviour of the various income groups. This particular study determines net effect of outshopping and inshopping levels based on retail expenditures which are calculated for each income group within an area. In this way net retail trade flow can be determined more effectively. This information is combined with a study which examined the extent of outshopping from one specific retail trading area within a region, providing further insight into the movement of retail expenditure within, into and out of that region. Examines data for the Bathurst‐Orange region of Australia. Its rural retail areas are prone to outshopping, specifically rural to rural outshopping.

Uses a product‐oriented approach to examine consumer outshopping patterns in a large and densely polulated city — Hong Kong. Concentrates on one popular consumer product, the camera, as an example, and looks at the possible effects of different product forms and price combinations on outshopping patterns. Analyses the implications of consumer outshopping for the individual retailer, particularly with regard to the formation of channel strategies. Suggests that consumers' outshopping patterns are not only product specific, but are also influenced by product form and the price of that product.

Investigates the impact of retail customers’ attitudes towards local retail establishments and their impact on local retail trading behaviour. Heads of 206 households were interviewed by telephone in two separate Indiana towns, each located approximately 55 miles from a major metropolitan trading area. Findings indicate there is strong positive correlation between the attitudes of consumers and local economic performances. Poor attitudes of consumers towards local business resulted in a higher percentage of income spent outside the community, which may reduce the growth of local business and employment opportunity. The unemployment rate of the community with positive attitudes was 2.2 per cent compared to 7.5 per cent of the community with negative attitudes. Suggests that small businesses and local retailers should have a concept of competition and provide service and satisfaction to the customer, instead of sitting back and being complacent.

Urban versus suburban shopping environments present unique opportunities and challenges for retailers. Retailers in both urban and suburban locations attempt to both attract outshoppers and retain their hold on shoppers in their immediate trade areas. To this end, it is incumbent on retailers to understand the dynamics underlying consumers’ decisions to shop in urban versus suburban retailing settings. This is especially important for consumer shopping behavior during the December holiday selling season which accounts for a disproportionate share of many retailers’ yearly revenues and profits. Reports on a three‐year study conducted in a major metropolitan area which addresses shopping behaviour, intentions, retail satisfaction and its antecedents between urban resident shoppers and suburban resident shoppers. Implications are presented for retailers who have chosen to emphasize strategically urban or suburban locations as well as for those retailers who have branch stores in both geographic locations.

Previous research on the internationalization of retailing typically focused on retail companies crossing borders to enter other countries. Yet, a large number of people cross country borders to outshop in neighboring countries. This form of inward retail internationalization has received little attention in the literature. To address this void, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies of retailers in a border zone setting.

The authors collected data from 109 US retailers on the USA–Mexico border. The survey instrument included questions that captured the participants’ opinions regarding the importance of Mexican consumers, retail mix strategies, performance issues and overall retailer characteristics.

The findings show that US retailers perceive cross-border consumers as important to their performance. Interestingly, the findings also suggest that border zone retailers do not adapt their retail mix strategies with this target market in mind.

The research was conducted at one particular border zone with its own unique characteristics. It is not clear whether the authors’ findings would apply in other inward internationalization contexts (e.g. medical tourism) or border zones. Future research should delve much more deeply into understanding outshopping motivations in border zones, but also the reasons why retailers do not actively engage in marketing their establishments to this target market.

The authors’ findings have interesting implications for retail managers in border zones. While exogenous and uncontrollable advantages on one side of the border may attract customers away from the other side of the border, retail mix customization under the control of retail managers may actually stimulate similar or better results. Border zone retailers are encouraged to engage in efforts to understand the border zone consumer and engage in programs directly targeted at them.

The study is grounded in theory and empirically assesses the retailers’ own contributions to enhancing their inward internationalization performance. By using the model of secondary boundary effects developed by Clark (1994) as their theoretical prism, the authors have put forward hypotheses, which address the aforementioned issues.