What: Unlike entertainment or social media, retail does not break the barrier of going global with a single champion thriving across the planet.

Why it is important: Thriving retailers are the ones who understand their local customers. This is at the heart of all European retailers who know that the Asian tourist bonanza is not going to be back soon. However, it might be a blessing in disguise as they build entry barriers to foreign international champions by doing so.

The New York Times columnist Shira Ovide argues that while technology does not know any boundaries and Facebook, Whatsapp, Google, YouTube or Tiktok are shared global experiences, this is not the case for shopping (online or offline) as there is no global behemoth catering the shopping needs for all customers across the planet.

Even though Amazon announced some years ago that “customers behave the same globally”, this did not translate into a reality: 90% of Amazon’s revenues are made in 4 countries only: the US, Germany, the UK and Japan. Walmart is equally successful in the US, Canada, Mexico and Central America but nowhere else. And the Asian starts (Alibaba in China, Coupang in South Korea) have not done better in terms of expanding internationally. Forrester analyst Sucharita Kodali puts it in these words: “retail is just hard to globalize”. Reasons explored for that state of things are multiple, and hypothetic:

• It could be due to local regulations which are favouring national champions therefore making it difficult for them to enter new markets,
• To thrive on a market, retailers need to acquire a customer knowledge that will not be the same in another country,
• Entry barriers are high in countries where national champions already operate.

The New York Times mentions that not having a global champion may be a blessing in disguise in terms of environmental impact.

There is no such thing as a global shopping mall