The entry mode choice is rarely analysed in the literature as the start of a firm's international development whereas retail companies enter foreign markets with few locations before expanding over time by adding new ones. This contrast suggests that research works use a static concept, an entry mode, within a dynamic process, the one of internationalisation. This paradox suggests an interesting distinction, one which differentiates the entry mode from the expansion mode.
Using survey data collected by questionnaire from top managers of French retail firms, the research investigates the paths of entry and following expansion into overseas markets that retailers chose to pursue and suggests a framework in relation to theories on internationalisation for conceptualising the expansion mode choice