Retailing

In 2023, beauty specialists and pharmacies drove growth in overall health and beauty specialist retailers in Canada. Beauty specialists continued to benefit from the post-COVID-19 surge in demand. With the channel already exceeding pre-pandemic sales…

Despite continuing high inflation, performance for health and beauty specialists in Bulgaria was stable, with constant value sales rising slightly. There was also further opening of outlets. Value sales through pharmacies continued to account for…

Health and beauty specialists maintained growth in both current value terms and in terms of outlet numbers in Brazil in 2023, with growth across all channels by both measures. Raia Drogasil (Droga Raia, RD Farmácias, and Drogaria Onofre) consolidated…

Health and beauty specialists in Belgium continued to enjoy positive growth in current value terms in 2023. However, this driven mainly by inflationary pressures, as retailers, squeezed by rising input costs, were forced to raise their prices. Within…

Driven by significant price increases, overall health and beauty specialists saw strong growth in value sales in Austria in 2023, roughly at the same level as retail offline overall. Consumers' willingness to spend in this category has generally…

Pharmacies in Australia maintained their position as the primary source of health products for local consumers in 2023. This position is despite supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths expanding their product ranges to include medication. However,…

All categories of health and beauty specialists in Argentina recorded triple-digit or very close to triple-digit increases in retail current value sales growth in 2023. Optical goods stores registered the fastest growth in terms of retail current…

Although modern trade formats continue to increase their value share in 2022, bazaars are still the dominant grocery retailing channel due in part to the fact that bazaars have a well-established place in Uzbekistani culture, with consumers being…

The reduction in spending power in Argentina and the rise of prices in Uruguay have impacted the results of some of the key players in grocery retailers. The exchange between Uruguay and Argentina has traditionally been strong, with a long-standing…

In 2022 grocery retailers in Tunisia faced a multitude of challenges, including supply shortages and fluctuating consumer demand. A significant contributing factor to these challenges was the rapid escalation of consumer prices, which surged to…

Forecourt retailers is maintaining solid growth, after recovering from its declines during the era of pandemic restrictions. Within this environment, in March 2023, it was revealed that MOL Group has sold 39 service stations to Shell in Slovenia, as…

New store openings within the modern grocery retailers channel helped fuel growth in current value terms in 2022, albeit the number small local grocers and food/drink/tobacco specialists declined. For example, Delhaize Serbia, the second largest…

In 2020, the IMF discontinued funding for Pakistan as the country failed to implement policies regarding taxes and price increases on energy, which worsened Pakistan's economic woes in 2022, resulting in unstable economic and political policies.…

In 2022, though there was healthy growth in current value sales, constant value sales fell. The war in Ukraine had a negative impact, with the resultant energy crisis leading to soaring inflation and dampening volume sales. In addition, there was…

The war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on grocery retailers in Lithuania during 2022. As a result of the conflict, grocery prices have increased significantly, and the consumer base has grown due to refugees from Ukraine. This has led to an…

Grocery retailers saw strong current value growth in 2022. As the situation stabilised with the reduced threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19), smaller formats like food/drink/tobacco specialists, small local grocers and convenience stores also started to…

Brick and mortar grocery stores remain extremely popular in Kenya, despite ongoing strong growth in e-commerce. The number of grocery stores outlets continued to increase in Kenya in 2022 as operators looked to expand as the country continued its…

Kazakhstan has strong trade links with Russia in particular and its war in Ukraine negatively impacted the economy and led to high inflation. While skyrocketing international oil and gas prices boosted the local economy, its usual outflow to the…

In 2022, retail value sales of grocery retailers recorded substantial growth. Inflationary pressures were a key contributor to this strong value increase, while volume sales growth decelerated compared to the previous year. Overall, increases in the…

The war in Ukraine has impacted grocery retailing in Georgia with inflation contributing to price increases across the category. Georgia’s growing consumer base in 2022 has added further impetus to retail value growth. Georgia has been a popular…

While grocery retailers in Estonia showed a markedly improved performance in terms of overall current value sales growth in 2022, this was mainly due to soaring inflation fuelled by the global recovery from the pandemic and the fallout of Russia’s…

Grocery retailers continued to see dynamic growth in 2022, with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions supporting economic activity and boosting consumer confidence. Furthermore, while many consumers remained price sensitive in 2022, spending was…

Reduced price initiatives continue to gain momentum in the Dominican Republic as inflation squeezes consumer expenditure. Price sensitivity has been an issue since the pandemic with Dominicans looking for more affordable options. The number of…

In light of inflationary pressures, consumers have become increasingly discerning and cost-conscious in 2022. Grocery retailers have navigated this more complex climate by implementing various measures to address changing preferences, such as…

Leading player Wal-Mart continued to invest in expanding Palí and Maxi Pali in 2022, opening new locations nationwide. Between January to September, nine stores in different parts of the country were opened: seven Palí stores and two Maxi Palí. The…

France-based multinational Carrefour continued to expand its global footprint during 2022 with the opening of its first hypermarket in Cameroon. This store is located at the PlaYce shopping centre in Yaoundé and it was inaugurated during July 2022.…

In 2022, though there was double-digit growth in current value sales, growth in constant value sales

New payment technologies continued to arrive in modern grocery channels in Bolivia at the end of the review period. Consumers demand in-person shopping options that incorporate more of the ease and convenience of online shopping. In a market where…

Modern grocery retailers continued to outperform traditional retailers in terms of growth in Azerbaijan in 2022, gaining value share in a trend that is set to persist. This expansion is supported by ongoing urbanisation and investment in the…

The rising cost of food is affecting the performance of grocery retailers, leading to positive value growth whilst also placing pressure on consumers’ finances. Despite government initiatives to delay a planned restructuring of food subvention and…

General merchandise stores in Vietnam benefitted from increased inbound tourist flows in 2023, with Vietnam’s tourism industry continuing to rebound post-pandemic and luring millions of international visitors within the year’s first nine months.…

General merchandise stores in Ukraine is dominated by variety stores, which continued to weather the challenges of trading during a full-scale war better than many other types of retailers in 2023. This was mainly because their offer of wide ranges…

Within general merchandise stores, department stores accounted for significantly more value sales than variety stores in Turkey in 2023. The only major player in variety stores is German global player Tchibo, while there are three significant players…

In 2023, although general merchandise stores in the US saw slight growth in current value terms, sales continued to decline at constant 2023 prices, driven by department stores. In December 2023, Arkhouse Management, and Brigade Capital Management…

In 2023, a year characterised by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and high inflation, Poundland was one of the more active players in general merchandise stores in the UK, placing a strong focus on pricing and expanding its product range. In March…

Variety stores in the United Arab Emirates continued to experience significant growth in 2023, outperforming department stores, the other main channel in general merchandise stores. This was not only due to the affordable prices offered by these…

The general merchandise stores channel in the Philippines, which is dominated by department stores, saw buoyant growth in current value terms in 2023. An increase in mobility, including the return of consumers to their physical offices, contributed…

Action continued to record growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit at a slower pace than in 2022. Action is a chain of discounter variety stores which has benefited from the challenging economic environment with consumers coming to its stores…

General merchandise stores in the Czech Republic, which comprises department stores and variety stores, experienced weaker value growth in 2023. Department stores in Czech Republic continue to lose appeal among locals. As it stands, there are…

Variety stores in Thailand saw positive though slowed growth in terms of current value sales in 2023. The segment was hit hard by the pandemic and its economic fallout; many local consumers remained reluctant to shop from variety stores as they…

Following two years of economic downturn, general merchandise stores in Taiwan experienced a remarkable resurgence 2023, witnessing double-digit growth in retail sales. Surpassing the convenience stores channel, general merchandise stores reclaimed…

General merchandise stores recorded a decline in sales in Switzerland in 2023, mainly as a result of the performance of department stores, which are often considered outdated and old-fashioned and are increasingly being replaced by shopping malls and…

Within general merchandise stores in Sweden, similar to discounters in grocery retailers, variety stores’ positioning engendered robustness despite the difficult and unpredictable geopolitical and economic times. The main focus of the key players in…

Department stores benefited from the increase in inbound tourists seen in Spain in 2023 as foreign tourists love to go to places such as El Corte Inglés to do their shopping and to partake in the uniquely Spanish experience found in its outlets.…

General merchandise stores maintained growth in both outlet numbers and current value sales in South Korea in 2023, with increases seen for both variety stores and department stores, although the latter remained by far the larger channel. Department…

Lockdown restrictions imposed on shopping centres during the pandemic were particularly challenging for department stores in South Africa, which often occupy prime rentals in such locations. For Woolworths, the situation was worsened by civil unrest…

TEDi Betriebs sro, with a majority of standalone outlets, remained the leading player in general merchandise stores in 2022 and was followed by Tchibo Slovensko. The latter focuses on marketing and promotions and runs weekly discounts on a limited…

Variety stores in Singapore continued to record solid growth in 2023, driven by the rising cost-of-living pressures, which were a key area of concern for local consumers. Amid a muted economic climate, and rising prices as a result of inflation and…

Value-oriented department stores such as Centerpoint and RedTag continued to lead the category in 2023 outperforming outlets with a more premium positioning. This was largely due to price increases with many shoppers displaying a more conservative…

In 2023, general merchandise stores in Romania were represented in totality by variety stores. However, variety stores is an underdeveloped retail channel, which remains unfamiliar to most local consumers. Variety stores have never really developed…