Abstract

Since China’s ingress into the World Trade Organization (WTO), to a greater extent, multinational business enterprises have entered the market. Fashion industries, for instance, led by European and American apparel retailers, including many Japanese companies, have begun to pay attention to the Chinese market. This is embodied in diverse formats of retailing outlets with international expansions. The intent of this paper is to present an empirical study for improving the framework of retail internationalization processes in the Chinese market, and to provide a perception of the interface between retailing and building customer relationship. Case studies approach is employed in this study to build theories. The objectives of this research are (1) to investigate the processes and barriers of entering the Chinese market by looking at a case study of a Japanese fashion retailer; (2) to clarify the characteristics of each stage of international expansion by applying dynamic capabilities based on a framework that makes a distinction between a firm’s first stage, second stage and third stage; and (3) to indicate the emergence of a new retail format, called a “house brand store,” and its important role in retail internationalization and customer relationship management.

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