SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RETAIL TRADE IN EUROPE - THE REQUIREMENT OF GLOBALIZATION

The article presents the synthetic results of the research, whose objective was to identify the key success factors of sustainable retail development. It was assumed that the application of the principles of sustainable development by commercial enterprises contribute to enhance their market competitiveness and it is the requirement of globalization. The essential elements of sustainable operation of commercial enterprises include: the quality of offered products and their selection, customer service quality and purchasing conditions, including the format of the retail outlet. The article identified the level of retail development in eight European countries using the method of multidimensional comparative analysis. Significant differences in the assessments of commercial network in terms of retail outlets type were identified using Kruskal-Wallis test. Key success factors for sustainable development of trade in Europe are diverse and have different importance for customers.