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consultancy. The most international big retailer is France's Carrefour. It has industries that might operate in 100 or more countries.

But in rich countries retailing is growing slowly; and in their home markets giants such as Wal-Mart and Tesco are attracting the attention of domestic regulators and the hostility of the public. They need to go abroad to grow. The latest country to interest them is India, where foreign shopkeepers are getting their feet in the door (see page 69).

Retailers who set out on foreign adventures need to remember three basic rules. First, don't forget the local touch. WalMart got off to a bad start in Germany by appointing a country manager who did not speak German. It also underestimated the local competition: Germany's Aldi and Lidl are champion price cutters. In Brazil it failed to notice that people like to shop en famille: the aisles of its shops were too narrow to accommodate the standard family party.

Successful foreign adventurers adjust their formats to local needs, B&Q, a British do-it-yourself retailer, discovered that Chinese people look down thennoses at doing things themselves. It became a buy-it-yourself, and get somebody else to do it for you, retailer, Second, make sure your timing is right. In 1995 Yaohan, an aggressive Japanese retailer, opened one of the world's biggest department stores in Shanghai. It planned to build 1,000 Chinese shops. But a decade ago Chinese people were too poor to support its vision and in 1997 Yaohan filed for bankruptcy.

Third, be selective about what you try. Tesco, which has been pretty successful in foreign markets, is shortly going into America-but with convenience stores only, because it reckons the supermarket business is too crowded.

Rendering of the article "Trouble at till"

The title of the article I've read from the journal "Economist" is "Trouble at till". It really reflects the topic of the article but doesn't fully reflect its main idea. It is actually rather metaphoric. The topic of the article is global retailing and its main idea is to depict the failures which retailers can come across doing business abroad.

Firstly the author characterizes the mistakes of a famous American retailer Wal-Mart when going into Germany in 1997. He tells us about the courtesy the staff treated the customers with. In fact it was an ordinary practice in America but smiling brightly and packing the customers' shopping looked rather suspicious in

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Germany. Thus as a result Germans were leaving the premises and avoided buying anything.

Afterwards the author states the fact that in spite of globalization the shoppers' tastes appear to be the strongest reason standing in the way of retailing business. Moreover this problem can't be solved even owing to traveling which familiarizes customers with foreign stores or the similar range of goods which can be bought in almost any country. Consequently Wal-Mart sold its German stores to a local rival Metro.

At the next stage taking into account all given reasons the author makes a conclusion that many shopkeepers never expand their business abroad. He also presents some interesting figures proving this fact. For instance, of the world's top 250 retailers, 104 have no international operations at all. What is more, the biggest international retailer France's Carrefour has stores only in 29 countries, whereas multinationals in other industries could operate in more than 100 countries.

Further the author analyzes the situation with retail stores in rich countries.

He emphasizes the fact that in their home markets big retailers as Wal-Mart and Tesco meet the hostility of the public, that's why as a consequence they need to go abroad and grow there. The most attractive country for them recently has been India.

In addition the author highlights three basic rules which must be taken into consideration by retail giants when setting out in foreign markets.

First, the author warns that they should constantly bear in mind local customers' behavior and national traditions. Besides he presents many interesting examples, when this important factor was merely ignored. For instance Wal-Mart being in Germany appointed a country manager who did not speak German. Furthermore it underestimated the local competition. Moreover operating in Brazil it didn't take into account the fact that people like to shop with the whole family, so the aisles of the shop were too narrow to accommodate members.

The second point which you are supposed to remember is to choose the right time to break into the foreign market. Thus, Yaohan, an enormous Japanese retailer opened its world's biggest department store in Shanghai in 1995. It also planned to build 1000 Chinese shops. Unfortunately that time Chinese people were too poor to stand its prices therefore Yaohan went bankrupt in 1997.

Finally the author presents the third above mentioned aspect which should be looked at regarding the situation. Be selective and make a proper choice when