Retail Internationalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retail Internationalisation - Essay Example Retailers like Marks & Spencer, Next, Arcadia, Debenhams, Asda, Tesco, Bhs, New Look and John Lewis are very famous in the UK for clothing retail internationalisation. This paper evaluates the leading factors behind the internationalisation of retailers in the UK from clothing perspective. It also provides the major reasons causing these retailers to move beyond the domestic market and seek opportunities internationally. Retailers around the work have been increasingly moving towards internationalisation in search of better business opportunities. This is ion particular on the rise among UK retailers that have moved towards foreign markets at a fast rate over the last few decades. Retail internationalisation is important for getting concept, sourcing and operational development. It further provides remarkable chances to grow and shine. Due to internationalisation, accumulation of information also takes place. It is very difficult to get all these facilities without moving outside (Akehurst and Alexander, 1996). There happen to be several factors that either push companies from domestic market or pull them towards internationalisation. These factors could be in the form of restrictive environment, saturated market and high competition in home market. Most importantly, the growth opportunities in the international market along with less intense competition and cultural proximity, greatly attract retai lers to new foreign markets. Companies go for retail internationalisation because of its advantages. The retailers that have gone for internationalisation and opened their branches or franchise or export in foreign countries gain several benefits. They learn a lot about the particular market, they build up their source and take the technological and other advantages to grow and survive in the market. One of the reasons behind a company to go overseas market is the unavailability of growth opportunities in the home market. (Treadgold, 2000) The companies limited to the domestic market do not advance in the business in the same manner as compared to those that tend to go abroad. Debenhams, one of the leading international clothing retailers in UK, has achieved potential growth over the last four years. The company went for internationalisation for growth and prosperity. The company had been facing difficulties in the hometown. It started to internationalise from 1990 and entered into the Middle East market and the n went to Malaysia and Hungary etc. during the period of internationalisation the company achieved remarkable success (Jones, 2003) Push factors influencing retail internationalisation are the facilities that are not available in the hometown. These factors may be cheaper labour, land or the opportunities, which are not available in the local markets. The other factors may be the market conditions i.e. regulatory environment, political and economic conditions etc. in which the survival of an organisation is difficult (Dawson, 1994). The firms doing business in the international market are mostly in search of place where the business could maximise its profits with minimum risk and investment. The motive behind different retailers to enter into various markets may be different, depending on the retailer and the market the business