Foreign big-box retailers have found the going extremely tough in China. Having flooded in over the past two decades seeking to tap into rising demand from China’s emerging middle class, many big names, from Best Buy to Tesco, have subsequently been forced to admit defeat, faced with fierce local competition and a rapidly changing retail landscape.
US retail giant Walmart appears to be bucking this trend. Despite slowing sales — Walmart’s same-store sales have declined on an annual basis in each of the past four quarters for which it has announced results, most recently a 2.3 per cent year-on-year decline in the three months to January — the world’s largest retailer by sales remains committed to expanding its China footprint. Moreover, while both local and multinational rivals are diversifying their store formats, Walmart remains committed to big-box hypermarkets.
On the surface, data from China Confidential, a research service from the Financial Times, suggest this continued commitment to China may pay off. Walmart has remained the most-visited supermarket brand among shoppers surveyed by China Confidential over the past three years, even as multinational rivals such as Carrefour and Tesco have seen their popularity dwindle.