Costco is Seeking to Expand its Operations Internationally

Costco is Seeking to Expand its Operations Internationally
Executive Summary
Costco is seeking to expand its operations internationally, with potential destinations being Ireland, France, India, and China. The company's international expansion history has shown mixed outcomes, success in countries in the Western Sphere and paltry success or total failure in the Eastern sphere. At the same time, there is a need to increase revenues from international sales. Thus, the primary problem in the current study is the need to choose an ideal market and a mode of entry that promises positive business outcomes. Solving this problem should also address the primary issues of under-reliance on digital media and multi-channel retailing in increasingly tech-savvy consumer bases, paltry revenue from international operations, and overreliance on the North American market.
Solutions to the current primary and secondary problems depend on the expansion destination alternatives based on the report on countries with growing retail sectors. These alternatives include:
* Entry into Ireland through wholly owning a subsidiary,
* Entry into France through licensing, and
* Entry into India through a joint venture
Alternative promises to be the most ideal of the three proposals. This is because India's large population promises to significantly impact Costco's international revenue, which is currently worrying. The Indian culture involves large households, which favor the organization's models of low prices & high-quality products, localization, no-hustle return, and club membership. Here, with its impressive schemes for employees and a keen eye on the carbon footprint through media campaigns and community participation, Costco can compete against other competitors. The major challenge in this market was the potential regulatory frameworks that could work against Costco's prospects. A joint venture solves this problem, especially if an established and experienced local partner can be identified.
Introduction
According to Park et al. (2019, p. 1), as of 2013, "Costco became the world's second-largest global retailer." By 2016, it had expanded into eight different countries across the world. The critical challenge of this expansion was selecting an appropriate entry mode that would see the company become successful in new markets. The company managed to grow and expand despite the turbulent economic conditions and managed to position itself as a market leader by breaking stereotypes and applying unconventional business strategies. With the intensification of competition in the retail industry amidst changing economic conditions in international markets, global retailers face increased challenges in operating and expanding. Despite this observation, Costco, in 2017, earmarked France, Iceland, China, and India as future countries of interest-based market reports that these were among the countries with the growing retail markets (Coppola, 2022). However, based on the selection of these countries, the differences in cultures compared to the United States (parent country for Costco), and unique operational constraints, Costco is facing both primary and secondary problems. Therefore, the purpose of the current paper is to rely on the informat...