Globalization trends in world retailing and its effects to Turksih retail sector

ABSTRACTMaster?s ThesisGlobalization Trends in World Retailing and Its Effects to Turkish Retail SectorAsiye Ayben GÜRMANDokuz Eylul UniversityInstitute of Social SciencesDepartment of ManagementRetailing is a part of the distribution process which is one of the elements ofmarketing mix. It can be defined as a marketing activity which conveys the goods,which are produced by the manufacturers to meet the target consumers? demand andneeds, directly to the consumer.Liberalization in the world trade, the conception of the world as a single market,the movement of capital in that single market without barriers, rapid developments incommunication technology, convenience of accessing to information, and consumers?desire to spend globally direct the consumers to demand more qualified service andquality products in the market. This leads retailers worldwide, whose aim is to presentthe right good with the right price at the right time and place, to extend theirinvestments to different markets. By the effect of the intense competition in their homecountry, they also try to serve more customers and to increase sales volumes. In thatperiod they transfer their retail management knowledge and experiences, new retailformats, the products of retail technology and various customer focused services. Theydestroy the balances in the market competition and cause some movements in themarket they have entered.In this study the leading global retailers are analyzed from various perspectivesand their globalization processes are scrutinized. The effects of these processes toTurkish retail sector are tried to display. At first retailing is studied in a theoretical frameand then the elements of retail sector, the characteristics of retailing, the dimensions ofinternationalization in the sector, the internationalization processes of global actors,their entrance to Turkish market, the changes they have caused, the intensity of thecompetition in Turkish retail market, and finally, the predictions and expectations for thefuture of Turkish retail market are examined in the thesis.Key Words: 1) Globalization, 2) Retailing, 3) Retail, 4) Global Retailers,5)Turkish Retail Sector.