European Retail Digest articles from December 2002

European Retail Digest archives from December 2002

Editorial.
December 1, 2002... Internationalisation remains a difficult issue for retailers. In our last edition, Professor Steve Burt and co-authors contributed a devastating critique of Marks & Spencer: They concluded: "there has been no overall internationalisation...

Foreign retail outlets in the UK. (Feature: internationalization).
December 1, 2002... The UK has been one of the most popular destinations for retailers from America and the rest of Europe. Indeed, the UK has seen far more retailers arrive from the USA than any other country. But what is the overall impact on our high streets...

Internationalisation of retail operations in Japan. (Feature).
December 1, 2002... Introduction Japan remains a retail market where successful international chains are still relatively few. This is surprising, as Japan is home to 126 million consumers and generates a retailing trade volume of [yen]136trillion (Jetro,...

When Polo is much more than a game: understanding the attraction of the British market to foreign fashion retailers. (Feature).
December 1, 2002... Anyone who read the Time magazine article in July 2002 about Ralph Lauren's determination to 'crack Europe' might be forgiven for thinking that Europe was a market that had already been well and truly cracked by that company so precariously...

Taking Debenhams International. (Feature).
December 1, 2002... Debenhams is a well-known name on British high streets and attracts a diverse customer base with its combination of internationally renowned and own-brands. It is seen as one of the more efficient department stores operators, partly because of...

Challenging the rhetoric: internationalisation, size and financial performance. (Feature).
December 1, 2002... Introduction The subject of internationalisation has long attracted controversy. Notions of internationalisation, pace of international expansion, associated costs and benefits, and related issues have been examined theoretically and...

Supply chain: a core competency for retailers: interview with Armin Meier, IT and Logistics Director of Migros. (Region: the Germanic countries).
December 1, 2002... There are three main supply chains in Migros: non-food, dry products and fresh products. Migros has 530 supermarkets and over 200 restaurants. The regional supply chain of fresh goods and fresh products and the fastest moving dry goods...

A career in trade: designing the future together.
December 1, 2002... At Metro Group the notions of 'trade' and 'career' are entering into a totally new relationship. As a modern and multi-faceted sector of the economy, trade has a wide range of careers and job profiles to offer. At all levels of the corporation,...

The changing role of German hard discount store formats.
December 1, 2002... Introduction German discount stores, especially hard discount grocery stores such as Aldi and Lidl, have a famous history in German retailing. They account for nearly 35% of German grocery sales (the highest market share of any retail food...

Key success factors of Tchibo's multi-channel strategy in German retailing.
December 1, 2002... Tchibo has nearly 10,000 employees with an annual turnover of almost cents 3m. Tchibo Frisch-Rost-Kaffee GmbH is fully owned by the Tchibo Holding AG. The holding also holds 30.1% of Beiersdorf and recently sold off its 75.1% stake in Reemtsma....

Retailing in Germany: another year of success for discounters.
December 1, 2002... For years the development of the German grocery market has been characterised by stagnating consumer demand, declining share of consumer expenditure on packaged grocery goods and as a result, stagnating revenues for the grocery retailers. At...

The German elections and the EU: more of the same? (European Political Issues).
December 1, 2002... Before September's close-fought election, Germany was governed by a Social Democrat/Green coalition. Now it again has a coalition between those two parties. The balance between them has however changed. The Social Democrats lost votes in the...

Block Exemption: putting the consumer in the driving seat? (European Political Issues).
December 1, 2002... After a lengthy period of appraisal, review, and widespread consultation, the European Commission has introduced a much-anticipated new Block Exemption Regulation (BER) for motor vehicle distribution (1). Taking effect on 1 October 2002, with a...

Has the impact of eCommerce on retail property been over-hyped?
December 1, 2002... Perceptions change quickly and the hype of two years ago with stories of the huge impact eCommerce would have by 2005 does not seem to feature so frequently these days. But eCommerce has not gone away, and quietly, perhaps stealthily, it is...

Main streets across Europe. (European Property).
December 1, 2002... The Economic Environment Last autumn the global economy faced considerable uncertainty as to the extent of the approaching slowdown and the likely impact of the 9/11 attacks. In the event, the outcome was not as bad as many feared, with a...

Perspectives on retail assortments (1). (News).
December 1, 2002... Introduction The unlimited growth of retail assortment size has recently come to a halt. Retailers increasingly come to understand that bigger is not always better and that assortment composition has a significant effect on store patronage...

Improving employee 'wellness' to achieve revenue growth and improved customer satisfaction: Part 2. (News).
December 1, 2002... In the March 2002 Edition of the European Retail Digest there were some very important questions posed including: --How well are your employees? and --Is their level of their wellness increasing or declining and why? In this...

Euro--how did you do it, Europe? First experiencies with a new currency. (News).
December 1, 2002... The final decision was made in 1991. The participating countries all had plenty of time to get ready for the introduction of the euro in 2002. People in twelve countries had to get used to the idea of a new currency. Well-thought-out and...

eCommerce in the European retail sector. (News).
December 1, 2002... Information and communication technologies have been a key driver in the dynamics of the retail industry for some time. The emergence of Internet applications offers yet more opportunities to streamline logistics and to develop new marketing...

Letter: Japan.
December 1, 2002... Dear Reader Japanese Sogo-Shosha, meaning major general trading companies, have been more active in Japan's retail sector. They used to be the leaders in Japan's economy for import, export and wholesaling of commodities and manufactured...

Letter: America.
December 1, 2002... Dear Reader Department stores and shopping centers attract a disproportionate amount of attention in retailing columns--because of the inevitable socio-economic bias of columnists and City analysts. Humbler retail activities, such as...

Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning.
December 1, 2002... Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning, by Mark Birkin, Graham Clarke & Martin Clarke, Wiley UK geographers have a long-standing fascination with spatial variations in the demand and supply of retail activity. Many of the larger...

It's Just Shopping * e-merchant meets e-shopper.
December 1, 2002... It's Just Shopping * e-merchant meets e-shopper, by Lauren B. Freedman, The Direct Marketing Association A few issues back, I reviewed--somewhat critically--Robert Spector's book Amazon.com: get big fast. I recall mentioning that I was...

Fifth Etienne Thil Colloque, La Rochelle, France, September 2002.
December 1, 2002... Fifth Etienne Thil Colloque, La Rochelle, France, September 2002 The Etienne Thil Colloque is a major French conference designed to bring academics and retail practitioners together. This year almost 150 attended--as well as the dozens of...

Oxford Institute of Retail Management update.
December 1, 2002... Release of OXIRM's new ranking of the world's top 500 retailers Our research on performance and value creation among the top 500 quoted retailers in the world is to be published as an Executive Briefing for January 2003. Included will be...

Developing managers in a time of change: the first executive MBA programme in International Retail Management and the Retail Summer University.
December 1, 2002... Emerging new challenges in the retail environment--such as shifting shopping and consumption patterns, new competitors and formats, the internationalisation of retail and purchasing networks, and the evolution of new technologies--create the...

Training for sales effectiveness: experience in German retail outlets.
December 1, 2002... Introduction Traditional discussions of personal selling in retailing concerning customers who enter a shop, distinguish between situations in which customers know what they want and situations in which the decision to buy (and what to...