The Impact of National Culture on Retail Structure

In every country in the world, consumers rely on retailers to purchase the products they need for everyday survival and to satisfy their most specialized needs and wants. Retailers from tiny “mom-and-pop” stores to giant modern stores such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and “big-box” stores provide the retail distributive institutions needed to make vast arrays of products conveniently available to millions of consumers when and where they desire to buy them. And despite the rapid penetration of online shopping in many countries around the world, brick-and-mortar stores still dominate retail structure because “Shoppers want to feel the fabrics, look at the colors, try out styles—all those things that can be lost online…” (2013 Interbrand Best Retail Brands Report, p. 4). Therefore, retail structure, which refers to the number, size, and type of physical retail stores in a given geographic area, will continue to play a crucial role in the everyday lives of millions of consumers around the globe.