Article raises an issue on the differences between the production and retail networks. Taking an account of a network internationalization, these differences become even more profound. Paper provides a literature overview of the scientific approaches to differentiate and typologize the periods of retail internationalization in Europe, as well as the strategies adopted by the respective retail chains. The study provides a comparative analysis of the development process of retail networks in different groups of European countries, with an emphasis on internationalization processes. Results of a comparative study suggest that the Russian retail market in still being at the stage of a rapid development featuring a highly heterogeneous spatial dispersion of retail chains and a diversity of trade formats. The inward internationalization as well as intra-regional networking is rather underdeveloped, while the outward internationalization of the national retail chains requires an active participation in the global distribution channels.

retail chain, retail network, retail internationalization, Russian retail, comparative study