The impact of internationalisation on retailing in Bangkok and its implications for retail location models

The retail internationalisation process in Thailand has evolved dramatically since the early 1990s. Even though the process has lasted less than 20 years, it has brought about radical changes to the retail environment in Thailand. This thesis discusses the impact of the retail internationalisation process in Thailand. Recent work has raised the question of the impact of globalisation on retailing in general. The present research contributes to this body of work by examining the impact of global retailers on the Thai retail industry and Thai consumers. The study focuses on grocery retailing in Bangkok, as the Thai capital is the centre of the retail business in Thailand. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches are used in this thesis, for which a large questionnaire survey was undertaken, supported by a number of strategic interviews. The thesis demonstrates that global retailers in Thailand have for the most part applied successful strategies from their home countries to Thailand. Research findings show that fierce competition by global retailers in Thailand has brought about significant changes to the retail landscape in Bangkok, which has been transformed to the point where the big-box hypermarkets of global hypermarkets have become a common sight. The results of the consumption patterns survey undertaken for this thesis show that local markets still hold a high market share because of their perceived advantages in terms of freshness and convenient location. However, the hypermarkets of global retailers have been dramatically increasing in popularity among consumers. In addition, the thesis includes a Spatial Interaction Model for consumer patterns in Bangkok. The model for Bangkok is designed to enhance the study of retail assessment and planning through a series of five what-if? scenarios. The results of the model for Bangkok will contribute to a greater understanding of changing consumer patterns in a dynamic retail environment. It is hoped that the results of this study will be used for the purposes of retail planning and retail policy in the future.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo