Continued growth seen for Asia’s large format retailers
Asia’s large format retailers are set to grow by 3.3 percent per year to 2022, a research organization said, with Vietnam, India and Philippines expected to expand even faster.
In a statement, IGD said growth would be driven by domestic companies, except for Vietnam where foreign retailers have been investing to gain a foothold in the fast-growing market.
Vietnam, India and the Philippines were “forecast to see double-digit growth,” in particular but specific figures were not cited by IGD.
It said large format retailers in the region were still enjoying steady growth but faced pressures from increased competition.
“More convenience stores are opening in close proximity to offices and homes, offering a good range at reasonable prices. Online retailers continue to invest heavily to gain new customers,” it noted.
IGD said that aside from expanding in other regions, retailers were also digitizing physical stores to create a seamless shopping experience in more mature markets.
“Large format retailers therefore need to balance their investments in existing stores, as well as network expansion in order to stay relevant to shoppers,” it said.
IGD Head of Asia Pacific Nick Miles said that in the Philippines, there were a lot of great opportunities for modern retail growth.
“Local retailers are well established, with large format stores maintaining strong growth through network expansion. Retailers are adding stores in major urban cities and new regions like the Visayas and Mindanao,” he said
“SM Retail is expected to grow faster than its competitors to 2022, extending its leadership over the other players in the market,” Miles said.
IGD earlier said that for grocery retail alone, the Philippines is expected to see an average of 9.3 percent growth year-on-year until 2021, which would make it the fifth-largest grocery retail market in Asia.
Grocery retail sales in the country are likely to reach P7.08 trillion by 2021 from P4.53 trillion in 2016, driven by a growing population, strong domestic consumption, and a buoyant economy.
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