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Retail, by definition, used to be an industry focused on local markets and aiming to distribute goods to consumers in a narrow geographical area. In developed market economies, the internationalization of retail operations started with global sourcing, while in Eastern Europe the process of retail internationalization intensified after the fall of communism in late 1980s and early 1990s. Although there are plenty of papers discussing the conceptual framework of retail internationalization, publications analyzing the present level of internationalization and the current status of specific geographic markets are scarce. Therefore, this chapter will analyze and compare the Croatian and Polish markets in order to explain the paths and drivers of retail internationalization in postcommunist economies.

Research has focused on the Polish and Croatian markets. The first and second part of the chapter explain retail internationalization per se on the basis of existing relevant literature, as well as elaborate on the process of retail internationalization in the postcommunist economies of Poland and Croatia. The main part of the chapter presents the results of a comparative study. This comparative study has been based on secondary data available in official statistical publications of Poland, Croatia, and European Union. As the source of information on large retailers, secondary data has been used as well. Our research analyzes key trends and calculates and presents key indicators showing the importance of retail in national economies.

Both Croatia and Poland are considered attractive host markets for the largest global retailers. Dynamics and intensity of retail internationalization have been different, but the process of retail internationalization is currently intensified in both countries. Retail internationalization is changing the scope of domestic market conditions. Several indicators and effects are observed in this chapter: growth of larger formats within the retail structure, growth in the number of employees per outlet, and growth of the share of trade in GDP creation.

The chapter explains the process of retail internationalization and the level of retail internationalization reached in Croatia and Poland. International retailers from different countries entered the Polish and Croatian markets driven by opportunities offered by these non-saturated markets. The process of internationalization, which is currently intensified, is analyzed in this chapter. Poland and Croatia are markets and countries with similar socioeconomic development. Therefore, this chapter contributes to a better understanding of retail internationalization and its effects on transitional, postcommunist economies.

China represents around 20% of the world's population, and her economy is still performing well under economic crisis. Historical events have shaped different parts of China with different economic developments and cultural encounters. The most prominent difference is between Hong Kong and the Mainland. This chapter would like to examine the development and issues of fashion retailing in China. For better understanding, this chapter starts with a brief discussion on apparel industry development and fashion culture in Hong Kong and the Mainland, follows by historical development and then presents systems of fashion retailing in both Hong Kong and the Mainland. Desktop research and exploratory research techniques were employed. Stores of international fashion luxury brands in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing were visited. Comparison of branding issues, particularly for luxury market in Hong Kong and the Mainland are discussed, so are future directions of fashion retailing in these places.

This chapter explains the interrelationships between trade markets of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, which have experienced the same political, economical, and social changes due to their postwar market orientation. Particularly, the research is focused on the relationships between retailers and their suppliers, the effects of 2008 financial crisis, and changes in customer behavior on those markets.

The chapter builds upon the investigation of the existing literature on trade in selected Southeast European (SEE) countries targeting three time-periods: planned economy era; period after the launch of the economic transition; and the European Union (EU) accession preparation era. The supporting fieldwork is based on qualitative interviews with senior managers in trade companies operating on all investigated markets. Results are compared with other secondary data sources.

The research has contributed to the understanding of similarities and differences on three markets of former Yugoslavia: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. Four areas are used as a framework for explaining the level of cooperation and interdependence between trade companies on investigated markets: changes in retail forms, growth in retail operations, increasing importance of the relationships with suppliers, and penetration of private labels.

Results of the study provides some directions for suppliers on the selected markets and for retailers as well. As retailers rely on their key suppliers, local suppliers should offer them elements of differentiation. On the other hand, results give an insight into actual situation on the markets of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia regarding retail structure, number of retail forms, private labels, etc.

Considering an extensive literature review, the analysis of data given in official statistical databases, as well as qualitative study among trade managers, these findings have important managerial implications for retailers and suppliers.

This chapter presents a summary of the literature on the influence of the Internet and other digital innovations on markets, consumers, and firms. The review leads to a list of topics in need of research in the general areas of big data, online and mobile advertising, consumer search, online privacy, online reviews, social networks, platforms for online transactions, and the impact of the Internet on retail markets, including multi-channel and omni-channel retailing. We discuss the big data approaches that have been applied to problems of targeting and positioning and suggest areas for further development of these approaches. We also discuss the emerging area of mobile advertising, which can further enhance targeting. On the consumer side, the evidence indicates that the Internet has greatly lowered the costs of search and access to retailers. Much of the consumer data are transmitted to sellers, and much of the online advertising is transmitted to consumers, through platforms, such as Google. We conclude that better models of competition among these platform firms are needed and that they need to be examined for anti-trust violations. While online retailing has grown rapidly, it still has a relatively small share of retail sales. Since sellers can combine the advantages of online and offline channels, it has been common for sellers to branch into multi-channel retailing. Given the increased availability of detailed consumer data, omni-channel selling, which emphasizes strategies for the various touchpoints that lead to a transaction, is an area for further development.

Numerous studies have concluded that immigration has very small effects on wages or unemployment, even when the immigration flow is very large. Three reasons suggested for this are that immigration: (1) is not supply-push, but may instead be driven by demand-pull factors; (2) is likely to cause some out-migration; and (3) may induce flows of other factors across the economy. Surprisingly, few studies consider another obvious explanation: immigrant workers also consume locally, which means immigration stimulates the local demand for labor. Previous researchers have generally ignored the measurement of immigration's effects on labor demand, perhaps because when immigration, out-migration, and immigrant consumption occur simultaneously in the same labor market, it is very difficult to isolate immigration's effect on labor demand. This paper measures the labor demand-augmenting effects of immigration using a two-sector model of a very special case in which the receiving economy consists of: (a) an export industry employing both immigrants and natives; and (b) a retail industry employing native labor that is driven by local demand. The model can incorporate both supply-push and demand-pull immigration as well as out-migration. The model's important implication is that since immigration is exogenous to the retail sector, an unbiased estimate of the demand effect of immigration can be obtained without having to use instrumental variables estimation or other statistical procedures that may introduce new sources of bias. Fortunately, the economy in our model matches a very convenient test case: Dawson County, Nebraska. Dawson County recently experienced a surge in demand-pull immigration due to the location of a large export-driven meatpacking plant. This exogenous capital shock pulled in many Hispanic immigrant workers, who did not immediately seek work in the retail sector because of social and language barriers. This immigration led to higher retail wages and housing prices, confirming that immigration is capable of exerting significant effects on local labor demand.

This chapter focuses on the healthy lifestyle desideratum stretching out of the public policy realm to become a business interest in established and emerging economies. It is argued that retailers, through their marketing and social responsibility strategies, evolve into promoters of a healthy lifestyle at both social and individual levels. The selected examples from Poland illustrate how food retailers, particularly fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailers, respond to the healthy lifestyle desideratum within an emerging economy.

A qualitative approach is taken. The role and potential activities of retailers to promote a healthy lifestyle are identified by theoretical studies. Then, retailers’ involvement in developing the ‘health and wellness’ market segment as a market opportunity is justified by analyses of competitive trends in Polish retailing. The marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of leading Polish retailers (representatives of different organisational forms) contributing to the development of a healthy lifestyle are presented. Data are drawn from companies’ web pages, interviews, magazines and research agencies.

Recent experience in Poland confirms the finding from previous research that the retail sector in emerging economies is rapidly progressing towards catching up with well-established practices in developed countries. On the demand side, this process is fostered by the rise of middle-class consumers, while on the supply side, the key driver is the fierce competition among international chains and domestic distributors.

Examples drawn from Polish retailing represent good business practices, the relevance of which stretches beyond their local context and renders these business practices shareable.

Awareness is raised of the importance of progressing towards a healthy lifestyle; pragmatic advice is provided on how retailers from an emerging economy can enable changes in consumers’ behaviour.

The business focus on healthy lifestyle development fills a knowledge gap since health science perspectives still prevail in mainstream research on the topic.

The goal of this chapter is to analyse the decisions of the Croatian Competition Agency in the field of grocery retail mergers in the 2004–2009 period. In particular, various criteria used by the Competition Agency to evaluate grocery retail mergers are identified and discussed.

Using the comparative approach the author attempts to detect the relevant sources for certain solutions embraced by the Competition Agency by examining especially the relevant practice of the European Commission as well as relevant decisions adopted by some competition authorities in EU member states.

The grocery retail market in Croatia has seen a flurry of mergers since 2004 with the largest competitor spreading to various local markets. For the Croatian competition authority this merger wave has perhaps been the biggest challenge since its inception. In the face of growing market concentration, the authority saw fit to shift from initially providing green light to duly notified transactions to subsequently addressing serious competition concerns by ordering a number of remedies. The Croatian competition authority relied extensively on EU acquis when deciding on specific merger cases, especially as regards the relevant market definition.

The value of the chapter is reflected in the fact that this kind of comparative analysis of Croatian merger cases in the field of grocery retail mergers was not available before. It is especially in the light of the accession of Croatia to the EU, as foreseen on 1 July 2013, that this kind of study becomes useful both for domestic but also EU audience.

Numerous studies have focused on retailing firms and their activities in foreign markets; however, these have not been able to fully identify factors that influence the process of retail internationalisation. This paper examines the factors that influence the foreign market entry process in retailing firms and develops a conceptual model. The conceptual model is used to analyse two case studies. The case data were collected through in-depth interviews. N*Vivo was used to encode data and corroborate the analysis. The entry strategies of IKEA in China, and Marks & Spencer (M&S) in Hong Kong are examined. Firms planning to enter foreign markets would greatly benefit from our analysis. We provide insights into factors influencing the foreign market entry process and how firms can manage this process.