Institute of Grocery Distribution chief executive Joanne Denney spoke about her view of the future landscape for global retailing. She said the top three retailers, Carrefour, Ahold and Wal-Mart, had strengths including their turnover, global strategy and global culture. But while most retailers focussed simply on turnover, the IGD Global Retail Index offered a more considered ranking to the world's retailers.

Denney outlined 'hard' factors, including turnover size, number of countries in key regions, home market dominance and percentage of foreign sales.

There were also 'soft' factors aiming to reflect a retailer's international management skills, and clarify global strategy, culture and sharing within a company.

Denney said it was important for retailers to have a format they could export, such as the hypermarket. She said: 'This larger store format has been critical in the development of global retailing to date thanks to its adaptability and therefore highly exportable nature.

'Additionally, its larger size means that retailers can build local scale much faster in their new markets.

Furthermore, the combination of food and non-food in one store appeals to a wide variety of customers. People of all income types, of all ages and across numerous countries have all been attracted by the product and pricing proposition of the hypermarket.' Looking to the future, Denney believes a small group of global operators, and also a gathering of group and niche players will emerge. This will enable retailers to decide between global or local supplies and to understand the part retailers play in the new world order.

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