Retailers’ Internationalization in Emerging Markets: A Comparative Study of a French and a Local Retailer’s Key Success Factors in Brazil

The internationalization of retail operations in emerging markets is today one of the most important decisions of mass retailers. This phenomenon has been highlighted by past research, at the micro level as well as the macro-environment. In this paper, we will focus on the key success factors of a retail company in an emerging economy (Brazil). In this respect, we used a case study to compare the key success factors of a foreign and a local retailer considering two increasingly interesting theories in strategic marketing: the core competences theory and the organizational culture theory. The results showed that the international retailing success on the Brazilian market can be well explained by these two theories. Factors for this international retailing success that have been underlined are store format and localization, customer relationship, competitive strengths and organizational culture. However, the local retailer’s challenge is now to do as well as the foreign retailer, or better, taking into account the two theories mentioned above. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings will be provided.