After having viewed the video clips and worked through the extended reading, please respond to the below discussion prompt. You should post your initial response by the date indicated in the module calendar. Please be sure to reference your sources in appropriate APA formatting and to provide substantive evidence of any claims that you make. Where appropriate, include personal anecdotes, statistics, and references to additional reading or materials. After you have posted your initial response, visit the forum again over the coming days to read the responses of your peers. You should respond to at least two other students by asking them to elaborate on a point, providing a counter-argument, suggesting a topic for debate, or referring back to the extended reading or video clips. In the UK, consumers are used to shops being open 7 days a week and in the US 247. In Germany, however, it is only recently that shops have been allowed to open on Saturday afternoons: a new federal law allows city centre shops to open until 8 pm. However, outside the city most still close at 4 pm for the weekend and Sunday opening is still highly restricted. This is much the same as New Zealand where stores close at 5.30 pm except for one night each week when they are open until 9.00 pm. Stores are also closed on Sundays and many are closed on Saturday afternoons. In India, opening hours are unrestricted but most retail stores are family owned and are much smaller in size. With the exception of a few (small) super bazaars, consumers are not allowed to walk freely inside the stores, examine and compare labels of different brands before making the selection. Instead, consumers approach shops with a predetermined list of items to purchase, which are then pulled out of the bins by the salesperson. Retailing in Greece has until recently been small-scale and highly traditional. The majority of stores are family owned and small in size, and shopping for pleasure is less popular. However, the entry into the country of some of the big global retailers is starting to change the face of retailing there. Source: Doole, I., Lowe, R. and Kenyon, A. (2016). International marketing strategy (7th ed.). Cengage Learning EMEA, p. 352.

Discussion question: Critically evaluate how a company can achieve a global distribution strategy when retailing infrastructures vary so much. Apply relevant distribution strategy options and use examples of specific countries to support your answer.