Key findings, implications and limitations

Abstract

In summary, the findings of this doctoral thesis illuminate the complexity of retail format replication in foreign countries. Retail format replication is an important topic and a multifarious research issue. This study surveyed how retail fashion firms transfer their retail format into foreign countries. This research topic is particularly relevant for the majority of fashion firms, which are not only increasingly shifting their focus to foreign markets and replicating retail fashion format elements from their home markets but also confronting challenges in determining which retail offer to adapt and how to adapt it and which background processes to standardize and how to standardize them in order to attract local customers and manage costs. This subject is also important because past studies do not conclusively indicate which retail fashion format elements should be replicated, standardized or adapted (Swoboda and Elsner 2013, Alexander 2008; Goldman 2001) and which replication strategy is the most successful abroad (Jonsson and Foss 2011).