Consumer co‐operatives and retail internationalisation: problems and prospects

Purpose This paper aims to explore the retail internationalisation activities of consumer co‐operatives. Design/methodology/approach Conducts a survey of the available information on these internationalisation activities. Findings A survey of the available information on these internationalisation activities shows that they have been restricted to a relatively small number of co‐operatives and that the “failure” rate has been very high. Some suggestions are made as to why the co‐operatives have been unable to convert their early‐mover advantages into sustainable retail networks. Research limitations/implications The restricted nature of the sample means that these exploratory findings are primarily descriptive. Further, in‐depth work with a sample of these co‐operatives would help us to better understand the reasons for the moves into and out of various international activities. Practical implications Expands the literature on retail failure in general and also provides some more depth to the literature on the internationalisation of co‐operatives. Originality/value Whilst there have been significant volumes of research into the internationalisation of investor‐owned retailers and of producer co‐operatives, particularly the “new generation” co‐operatives, there has been very little prior work undertaken in this area.