Shelves stacked to the ceiling with low-price hot sauce, Barbie dolls, and noodles stand near tanks where shoppers can fish out live sea bass for dinner. Welcome to RT-Mart, China’s version of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
From Shanghai to Chengdu, the outlets run by China’s largest big-box retailer, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd, are recreating US-style Wal-Marts, with one big difference: They’re giving them the feel of local street markets with hairy crabs laid on table tops and discounted hot-pot ingredients. That formula has helped it crack the country’s CNY507 billion (USD81b) hypermarket industry overseas rivals Tesco Plc, Wal-Mart and Carrefour SA have struggled to get a handle on.
Sun Art succeeded in outdoing Western rivals through more localised management, sharper knowledge of the Chinese consumer, tailoring shopping experiences and offering discounts on regional specialties, said George Ren, a Shanghai-based analyst at industry consultant Roland Berger.
(Source: Shanghai Daily )