LOGISTIC DISTRIBUTION CENTRES – BUSINESS SUCCESS FACTOR OF TRADING COMPANIES

Abstract

In order to impact national, regional and global markets trading companies should establish logisticdistribution centres. Their number, size, equipment, location, traffic and infrastructure connectivity, economicgrowth and the rise of consumer power on national, regional and global markets affects the development oflogistic network and exploitation of trading company synergies. Special attention should be payed to positioningof logistic distribution centres, because market coverage depends on their strategic planning, and by that, thepossibility of optimizing the logistic network and rapid response to consumer demands. To prove the hypothesisabout logistic distribution centres as a decisive factor of business success of trading companies, methods ofanalysis and synthesis were applied, as were the mathematical and comparative method. The findings are basedon analysis of a hypothetical example of optimizing the logistic network of a trading company by establishing alogistic distribution centre, but also on the analysis of several practical examples of establishing (national)logistic distribution centres of trading companies in Croatia. A particular object of research is the establishmentof Lidl’s logistic distribution centre in Perušić.

Key words:trading companies, logistic distribution centres, logistic network