Affiliation:
1. Department of Economic Geography, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg , Germany
Abstract
Abstract
The international expansion of the German discounters Aldi and Lidl in recent years has been a large success in grocery retailing. In China, the world’s largest grocery retail market, however, grocery discounters have not (yet) established a physical store presence. In 2017 Aldi Süd and Lidl for the first time entered a new market without the help of a physical store, implementing an online shop in China. As to the format’s future, significant disagreement amongst retail experts exists. This paper, which is based on qualitative interviews with high-ranking senior executives of international retailers, argues for three major reasons as to why the discount format has not hitherto gained a foothold in the Chinese market. Firstly, due to the characteristics and challenges of China’s market, such as high fragmentation as well as the need for strong localisation, a high standardisation of the format is not possible. Secondly, the extremely low-margin operation of discounters faces a price level in China that is already very low, limiting one of the discounter’s major competitive advantages. Thirdly, the discount format is facing a lack of consumer acceptance, toughening the establishment of private brands, which represents one of the major characteristics of the discount format.
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,Geography, Planning and Development
Reference54 articles.
1. Acker, K. (2010): Die US-Expansion des deutschen Discounters Aldi - Eine Fallstudie zur Internationalisierung im Einzelhandel. Geographische Handelsforschung 16thed. Passau, L.I.S. Verlag.
2. Ahlert, D., Blut, M., Evanschitzky, H. (2006): Current Status and Future Evolution of Retail Formats. In: Krafft, M., Mansala, M. K. [eds.]: Retailing in the 21stCentury - Current and Future Trends (pp. 289-311). Heidelberg, Springer.
3. Alexander, N. [ed.] (1997): International Retailing. London, Wiley Business and Economics.
4. Alexander, N., Quinn, B. (2002): International Retail Divestment. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 30(2): 122-123.
5. Alexander, N., Quin, B., Cairns, P. (2005): International Retail Divestment Activity. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 33(1): 112-125.
Cited by
7 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献