Early retail internationalization activities largely involved moves into developed economies, followed by developing, more distant countries (Alexander, Rhodes, and Meyers 2007), driven by their opportunities such as high growth rates and weaknesses of local retailers (Bordier 2003). Central for the success of these international transfers is the retail format understood as the retailer's capabilities that represent the elements of a retailer's strategy abroad (Goldman 2001). Therefore, retailers determine whether to transfer formats standardized or adapted while a distinction is often drawn between the offering and know-how parts of the format (Alexander 2008). The first includes the external marketing program visible to the customer, such as store layout, location, or price, for delivering the functional, social, or psychological benefits in order to attract customers to stores. The second, the internal part, determines the retailer's operational efficiency and consists of processes contain-ing procedures that retailers use in marketing and supply chain management and of retail culture including the repertoire of norms and coordination practices (Goldman 2001). An unbalanced choice, e.g. a standardized format transfer when the host and home countries are dissimilar, leads to a waste of resources or even market failures. Therefore, it is essential for retailers to know to which extend the transfer of external and internal elements gains performance abroad.
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