Purpose The aim of this study is to perform a systematic literature review on retail agglomeration literature and present an agenda of future research in this domain.

Design/methodology/approach To synthesize and evaluate the retail agglomeration literature, the study adopts a structured systematic literature review approach. Additionally, the study employs the Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology (TCCM) framework to present future research directions in the retail agglomeration domain.

Findings This review proposes a conceptual framework showing the relationships between the antecedents, mediators and consequences reported in the retail agglomeration literature. Lexicometric analysis shows that the key themes of retail agglomeration research are retail store selection and retail performance, retail location strategy and store format, customer perceptions, behavior and expectations.

Research limitations/implications Specific criteria used for the inclusion of literature limits articles considered for the current systematic review. Also, only those articles published in English were considered.

Practical implications Based on the proposed model, this review presents strategies to enhance the performance of retail agglomeration.

Originality/value This study has systematically synthesized the retail agglomeration literature to explore its development over time and proposes a research framework which provides a comprehensive understanding of retail agglomeration literature.