Retailing is becoming consistently more important in economic terms. This becomes evident when looking at the development of many individual countries, in Europe, America and Asia. In highly developed countries, re tailing is assuming more and more of aleadership role in the distribution channel. The expansion strategies, retail branding strategies, innovative solutions for supply chain management etc., all reflect this trend. In trans formation countries, such as in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in emerging countries, such as China and India, fundamental changes in retail ing structures become apparent and may lead to comparable developments. In view of internationalisation, afurther profound change can be noticed. Retailing companies that were formerly characterised by alocal or national orientation are increasingly developing into global players with worldwide operations. Book Concept and Overview The present book is devoted to the dynamic development of retailing. The various strategy concepts adopted by retailing companies and their imple mentation in practice are at the core of the book. This is not atraditional textbook or collection of case studies, but is intended to demonstrate the complex and manifold questions of retail management in the form of 15 lessons that provide athematic overview of key issues and to illustrate them with the help of comprehensive case studies. Internationally known retail companies are used as examples to facilitate an understanding of what is involved in strategic retail management and to present some best practices.
