Reshaping traditional retail format: Causes and effects of M&A strategy implementation in retail industry

Mergers and acquisitions represent a process of two or more firms consolidating their most valuable assets through financial transaction. Companies take part in this process with many benefits in mind: they grow faster, expand their businesses, or enter new market without incurring huge costs that are necessary to stay in the competitive landscape. (Malik, Faizan & Anuar, Melati & Khan, Shehzad & Khan, Faisal. 2014). With the rise of operating costs and higher number of new market entrants, firms are forced to lower their costs to stay profitable. At the same time, they have to reach more customers and maintain or expand market share they occupy, offering goods and services that are in line with the value proposition.The mergers of Amazon and Walmart with respective companies are related to the expansion of company activities out of the scope of the primary business activities, accessing the market which was not covered before. The Yoox Net-a-Porter case serves as an example of two already established e- commerce retailers, merging for the benefit of growth and access to new networks. The purpose of the thesis is to prove that the rise of mergers in the retail sectors can be justified and explained by many positive effects that the companies mentioned, although operating in different sectors, have been able to benefit from. This is done by conducting both a qualitative and quantitative research.