China’s retail scene remains unbalanced as there is a lack of large-scale modern retailers in smaller cities and local communities although the development of large-scale retailers is seen as more rapid than of smaller retailers mainly serving local neighbourhoods, according to a new report of the Fung Business Intelligence Centre.
The report, Retail market in China, provides an overview of China’s retail market and assesses competitive prospects, offering key highlights on developments under different retail formats.
It also reviews the industry’s latest developments and identifies the major challenges for retailers in the country which include:
- The significant increase in operating costs
- Unstructured development of retail properties and lack of centralised city planning
- High logistics costs and weak transport infrastructure
- The challenge of integrating online and offline businesses
Key highlights:
- Aggressive store expansion is replaced by improving store productivity in China.
- Retailers launch their own private labels or proprietary brands.
- Mobile-commerce is increasingly popular, as is mobile payment.
- Digital marketing is ever more prevalent.
- Improving customer relationship management.
- The concept of the omni-channel emerges.
- Tier three and tier four cities become the development focus.
- M&A continues to be an attractive avenue fuelling growth.
To download the full report, click here.