Colette Renard-Grandmontagne
Fonction
Maître de conférence
Organisation
Université de Lorraine
Stratégies et adaptations des acteurs du commerce intégré en territoires frontaliers
Stratégies et adaptations des acteurs du commerce intégré en territoires frontaliers
Border Region
Belgium/France/Luxembourg
Language(s)
Français
Main Category
Introduction
This article looks at the location strategies and adaptations of the retail chains in the border areas in the 3 countries studied, which are densely populated and where the purchasing power of domestic and foreign consumers is high.
Summary
The subject proposed concerns the geography of the retail sector and consumption in a specific type of area: the double border areas on either side of each of the dyads in the Three Borders Triangle (Belgium, France, Luxembourg). The article focuses on the retail chains that have become dominant in these three countries, by studying:
- firstly, the spatial development strategies pursued by the management of these groups in terms of locations in the border areas,
- secondly, the adaptations to certain national directives made by the managers of outlets situated in areas characterised by fierce competition due to the discontinuities generated by the border.
Content
This paper draws on empirical research, communications and articles published since the beginning of the 2010s.
The area chosen to study (Arlon-Longwy-Esch-sur-Alzette) has been the subject of a bi-disciplinary exploratory research programme (geography, management science) on the subject of "Border Retail" since spring 2017. It also aims to get a clearer picture of the retailers' strategies and consumers' purchasing practices in a cross-border context. A qualitative approach mainly based on semi-directive interviews drawing on two guides, firstly with consumers living and/or working in one of the border areas, and secondly with store managers: selected food superstores, medium-sized specialist retail outlets and independent shops in each of the three countries.
The interview guide for store managers focuses on three themes: characteristics of the store, cross-border clientele, local trade and territories.
Nine interviews were conducted over the summer of 2017, including five with managers of stores belonging to four retail chains, including one with a global positioning, the others being mainly national or macro-regional.
To what extent does a border environment constitute a "particular trading context" (Lebrun, 2017) and create specificities for retail chains (top management of retail groups, store managers) and their customers? How do they respond to them?
The article is structured in three parts. After a presentation of the study area, characterised by the scale of the multiple cross-border flows, the 2nd part mainly differentiates between two spatial expansion strategies:
- getting close to the border whilst remaining in the home country. This choice improves the group's territorial coverage (Rulence, 2003), but often it is also prejudicial to its territorial coherence, placing the outlet in question too far away from the rest of the units and the logistics platforms
- crossing the border as part of an international growth strategy. Creating a sales outlet on the other side of the border, often managed, at least in the beginning, from the home country constitutes a bridgehead for the retail network. A map illustrates a case study on Auchan.
Part 3, which focuses more on local store managers, identifies the commercial performances and counter-performances of stores situated in border areas compared to a group's other units. It also points up the inappropriateness of some off the guidelines in national "roadmaps" in the context of strong - even fierce - international competition.
Conclusions
For retail chains, the border retains all its functions as a legal territorial limit. It is at once a constraint in terms of marginality within a network, an opportunity in terms of attracting a clientele accustomed to moving around easily between the three countries depending on the products sought and differences in prices, and also a pioneering front line in terms of the territorial expansion of a network. Although location strategies are a matter for the groups' central management, adaptations can be made on two levels: that of the head office for supply locations and the creation of subsidiaries and that of the store managers, who are attuned to local demand.
Lead
Colette Renard-Grandmontagne, Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire LOTERR
Contributions
Nicolas Dorkel, Université de Lorraine, Laboratoire LOTERR
Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2020