Pan‐European Retail Business: Emerging Structure Available to Purchase

Based on recent research, an overview of the new impetus which the 1992 programme has added to the internationalisation of European retailers is given. It is suggested that, in the past, much of the international growth in the retail sector has been a direct result of the constraints placed on retailers by a relative absence of opportunities in their domestic markets. During the 1980s a more proactive type of international retailer has emerged, motivated by the presence of growth opportunities outside the domestic market. The removal or easing of apparent barriers facing retailers has been a major driving force; particularly the legislative role of the 1992 programme in the European Community.