Tesco in Korea - a classic case study in international expansion

A great article in The Sunday Times today examines the strategy behind the success of Tesco’s expansion in South Korea…

International expansion is a key topic in the new A2 specs and the case study of Tesco’s approach to building market share in Korea is a great example to use.

The Sunday Times article is here

Some of the key points I noted down are:

- Tesco’s investment in Korea was set up as a joint venture partnership with Samsung - the leading Korean conglomerate

- Tesco will soon achieve market leadership, with more than a third of the market

- Tesco’s share of the Korean business’ profits is forecast to rise to almost £0.5bn by 2014

- Of the 23,000 staff, just 4 are from the UK!

- The success of the business is all about Tesco operating it as a local business, taking full account of the Korean way of life

- The Korean stores also double-up as community centres, even including schools!

- 25% (13million) Koreans are signed up to the Tesco customer loyalty scheme

Students can learn more about Tesco’s international strategy here