IMPACT OF TOURISM ON THE PROCESS OF RETAIL INTERNATIONALIZATION

Abstract

Internationalization is becoming a widespread phenomenon in trade, especially retail. Thus, internationalization is becoming an innovative strategy in trade development, including retail sector. Leading retail companies are constantly looking for new markets in different countries and continents. In this way, retailers on international markets find an opportunity for further growth and development. On the other hand, retail companies that expand their operations outside the borders of the national market need to know the determinants or factors that will determine the success of internationalization strategy. In the last twenty years, theoretical and practical studies have viewed these factors as a complex of economic, political, sociological, and cultural factors, which, ultimately, determine the choice of the particular market on which companies will operate in the future. In the context of analysis of various factors affecting retail internationalization, tourism and trends in the number of tourists in different countries are gaining in importance, so that theory and practice focus more and more on the so-called shopping tourism. With reference to previous theoretical and practical research, the aim of this paper is to examine the importance of tourism as a factor in retail internationalization. The starting hypothesis is that the number of tourists from different countries affects the process of retail internationalization, or the choice of the market where the retailer will expand its business. This hypothesis will be tested in the case of the leading international retail companies as well as international retail companies operating on the Serbian market, using relevant statistical methods.