New retail locations and cross-border shopping in Poland

Abstract

Shopping became nowadays a leisure activity, transforming itself from a primary necessity into a pleasant manner for many people to spend their free time. Cross-border shopping is a unique type of shopping, consisting in people travelling beyond the boundaries of their country, with the precise purpose of acquiring goods for personal use, on the other side of the border. Many travellers combine shopping with entertainment, in this way crossborder shopping tourism became popular. In Poland, Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainians proved to be the most active shopping tourists in the past years. Shopping malls are fast developing in Central Europe, as a sign of novelty and capitalism, replacing successfully the old, basic retails structures. The new developments conquer the market using a retail formula based on products diversification, combined with entertainment activities and attractions. Strategically located, the developments, that arose in the cross-border regions are planned and build, in order to satisfy the local, as well as foreign shoppers’ needs. This situation led towards the increase of cross border interest in new retail developments. This paper aim is to underline the key role played by supermarkets, in choosing the shopping location, by the Belarusian cross-border shoppers.