Examines the reasons driving French food retailers to build major speculative inventories through forward buying from their suppliers. First analyses the origin of the phenomenon and its strategic basis. Then, using the model of postponement‐speculation proposed by Louis Bucklin in the...

Global sourcing is undoubtedly one of the major symbols of current worldwide strategies. Although much has been written on manufacturers’ ploys in searching for more competitive and/or reactive foreign suppliers, this is not the case for retailers, surely because retail buyers do not wish to...