Retail Sector

Retailing involves all the activities used to sell goods and services directly to final consumers for personal nonbusiness use; global retailing represents retailing activities that cross national boundaries.

Over the past several centuries, entrepreneurial merchants have ventured abroad to exchange merchandise and open retail operations. International trading and retail store operations were the two primary economic engines of the colonial firms. For example, over 150 years ago, Dutch-based apparel and accessories chain C&A began expanding throughout Europe; it now has a network of 1,200 outlets, with new expansions planned in Bulgaria in 2009. Deichmann, a German retail shoe chain, began operations in 1913, and now has over 2,200 stores and 32,000 staff in 16 European countries; they sold 122 million pairs of shoes in 2007. Woolworth, founded in 1878 in the United States as a five-and-dime store, began expanding to Europe, Mexico, and South Africa in the mid-20th century, and now no longer exists within the borders of the United States, yet survives in the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa.

The Largest Global Retailers

Three (Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, and Target) of the 25 largest businesses in the United States are retailers. Outside the United States, big retailers include Carrefour in France, Tesco in the UK, Metro in Germany, and Daiei in Japan.

Of the top 250 retailers, 104 (41.6 percent) have no international experience at all. The most international retailer is Frances Carrefour, which has stores in just 29 countries, compared to multinationals in other industries that might operate in 100 or more countries. Overall, the 10 largest retailers in the world (with country of origin and corresponding sales in U.S. dollars) are Wal-Mart (United States: $348.7 billion), Carrefour (France: $97.86 billion), The Home Depot (United States: $90.84 billion), Tesco (UK: $78.98 billion), Metro (Germany: $75.25 billion), Kroger (United States: $66.11 billion), Target (United States: $59.49 billion), Costco (United States: $60.15 billion), Sears (United States: $53.01 billion), and Schwartz Unternehmens Truehand KG (Germany: $52.42 billion). The top four retailers in each market are as follows: Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Kroger, and Target (North America); Carrefour, Tesco, Metro, and Schwartz (Europe); Seven and I Holdings, AEON, Woolworths, and Coles Group (Asia/Pacific); CBD Grupo Pao de Acucar, Cen-cosud, Soriana, and Casas Bahia (Latin America); and Pick'n Pay, Shoprite Holdings, Massmart, and Met-cash Africa (Africa/Middle East).

The predominant retail formats of the top 250 retailers are supermarkets (93), other specialty stores (88), hypermarket/supercenter/superstore (73), convenience store (73), department store (53), apparel/footwear specialty store (49), and discount store (46). Nearly 11 percent (10.6 percent) of these retailers operate in 10 or more countries.

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Wal-Mart's approach has not worked in every market, and it now has stores in just 13 countries, including this store in Brazil.

Global Retailing Trends

According to the 2008 Global Powers of Retailing presented by Deloitte, Touche Tohmatsu in conjunction with Stores magazine, the total retail sales for the top 250 retailers rose to $3.25 trillion in 2006, up 8 percent from $3.01 trillion the previous year. Most of the growth was attributable to the rapid growth of consumer incomes in the emerging markets economies, where millions moved from poverty to the middle class.

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