Expanding a retail business into Russia : A case study of the Tokmanni Group

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to research international retailing market data for the future use of the Tokmanni Group as the company plans to expand operations into Russia. The theoretical background of the thesis consists of two sections: an overview of the current state of the Russian retail sector, and a discussion of trends in marketing and communication. The thesis project was conducted in Finland and used a qualitative research method.

Empirical research was conducted for the thesis through the case study of Tokmanni. The empirical section reports on the results of a case company interview, internet source analysis and summary. The empirical section explores the understanding of the retailing market while taking into account the current Russian retail economy and business environment. The analysis, which is based on information from local Russian and international retailers, provides an overall description of the Russian retail market and will support Tokmanni in choosing effective marketing channels, and planning a more effective marketing campaign in future.

The recommendations and development ideas are presented in the last section of the study.