Since 1985, Malaysia has seen unprecedented growth in retail business. International names like Tesco, Jusco, Carrefour, Isetan, Cold Storage to name a few have made their presents felt among the consumers in the country, influencing the consumers buying behaviour, and affected by these very same consumers in their business strategies and policies (Elle Morena, 2014)
Their business models have led to low prices and good quality products. This is also the outcome of supply strategy of high volume purchases, and in the process developing strong supply community.
Local mom and pop retailers, though are making a hue and cry about the almost monopolistic business practices by these big retailers, have found new means of surviving. Knowing the local communities almost by names, they have found niche market by offering personalized services such as delivering gas tanks to their homes and supporting community activities such as the Rukun Tetangga.
Standardization was the strategies developed for global consumptions. This strategy has become global phenomena, and had a profound impact to the globalization of taste such as the taste for fast food as in Mac Donald's, KFC, Star Bugs and many more. The standardization strategies are manifested in the supply policies, image, branding, human resource policies and many more. However, as consumer s are becoming more and more diverse, standardization as it was requires a re evaluation. The consumer expectations have made it critical that retailers need to localize their services to fulfil these expectations.
Retail is defined as the sale of goods to the end consumers rather than the distributors or other sellers for reselling. It is a port of supply chain linking manufacturers and the end consumers. The setup of these retail businesses can be in the form of shopping complex where the various services
