Defending the local market against foreign competitors : the example of Chilean retailers

South American countries have experienced the arrival of large American and European retailers that attempt to occupy important position in these markets. Nonetheless, the situation in Chile differs from its neighbouring countries. The largest retailers in Chile are local family businesses that have established themselves as legitimate organizations and are well regarded in the Chilean business community. Based on an analysis of the three major sectors of retailing in Chile, this paper describes the actions taken by Chilean retailers to defend themselves effectively against the attempts of foreign retailers to operate in their market, and the outcomes resulting from this process. By having to deal with strong local and foreign competition, Chilean retailers imitated the best practices of foreign competitors and learned to adapt their retail offer to satisfy the local customers? needs.