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Walmart has been there for decades now (since 1996) and has generally not done well. In general, the big box format does not make a whole lot of sense for a co

Walmart has been there for decades now (since 1996) and has generally not done well. In general, the big box format does not make a whole lot of sense for a country that primarily lives in apartments and thus doesn’t buy in bulk. Chinese mostly shop at wet markets and smaller supermarkets, or they do online grocery shopping.

em-bee 4y ago
but they are still there, so they can't be doing that bad. you are right of course. but it's not just the chinese. smaller supermarkets are the norm in germany and austria as well for example. bulk shopping doesn't happen there either. but coming from that culture, i see the primary benefit of the big-box format that they have a lot more variety and choice of products. and if there is one thing chinese like, it is seeing a wealth of options.
- bobthepanda 4y ago
  Eh, sales numbers and profits keep declining. > Last year, Walmart dropped to China’s fourth-largest operator of hypermarkets, from second-largest a decade ago, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. Sales at all Chinese hypermarkets shrank an average 3% a year from 2016 through 2020, according to a report by management consultancy Bain & Co. and Kantar Worldpanel, a consumer research firm. Over the same period, the report said, e-commerce sales in China rose 32% a year on a compound basis. As far as a wealth of options: > Today, when Mr. Zhang needs household staples, he turns to Freshippo supermarkets, owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. He said he enjoys frequenting Freshippo because its offerings and layout are refreshed often. Part of the appeal is rapid home delivery. The supermarket can deliver orders in less than 30 minutes. > "Going to a Walmart just isn’t exciting," said Mr. Zhang, a sales and marketing director. "They rarely change their layout or refresh their product offerings. You always know you’ll get the 330 ml. Coca-Cola there, but never the latest Cherry Coke flavor, or the popular fizzy drink trending on social media." https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/walmart-consumer-china.amp https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/walmart-consumer-china.am... At this point, Walmart China feels more like a “strategic” (read: FOMO) decision than anything that makes sense long-term. > "It’s been a regular part of [Walmart’s] cadence to be there to understand what’s happening," Mr. Berke said. "Historically, it’s been, ‘This is the biggest retail market in the world and its growth has far outpaced any other. How can we participate, and be part of all that growth?’"
baja_blast 4y ago
Walmart may be doing poorly, but Carrefour(French version of Walmart) is doing much better. There are also local alternatives, so it's not the concept behind Walmart that doesn't work, it's Walmart itself that has failed.
- bobthepanda 4y ago
  Carrefour had lower retail market share than Walmart. It also sold 80% of its Chinese operations in 2019. A big thing with Carrefour is that it also operates convenience stores, which are very much not big box stores, and which Walmart doesn‘t really do or do well. https://daxueconsulting.com/carrefour-in-china/ https://daxueconsulting.com/carrefour-in-china/

em-bee 4y ago

but they are still there, so they can't be doing that bad. you are right of course. but it's not just the chinese. smaller supermarkets are the norm in germany and austria as well for example. bulk shopping doesn't happen there either. but coming from that culture, i see the primary benefit of the big-box format that they have a lot more variety and choice of products. and if there is one thing chinese like, it is seeing a wealth of options.

bobthepanda 4y ago
Eh, sales numbers and profits keep declining. > Last year, Walmart dropped to China’s fourth-largest operator of hypermarkets, from second-largest a decade ago, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. Sales at all Chinese hypermarkets shrank an average 3% a year from 2016 through 2020, according to a report by management consultancy Bain & Co. and Kantar Worldpanel, a consumer research firm. Over the same period, the report said, e-commerce sales in China rose 32% a year on a compound basis. As far as a wealth of options: > Today, when Mr. Zhang needs household staples, he turns to Freshippo supermarkets, owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. He said he enjoys frequenting Freshippo because its offerings and layout are refreshed often. Part of the appeal is rapid home delivery. The supermarket can deliver orders in less than 30 minutes. > "Going to a Walmart just isn’t exciting," said Mr. Zhang, a sales and marketing director. "They rarely change their layout or refresh their product offerings. You always know you’ll get the 330 ml. Coca-Cola there, but never the latest Cherry Coke flavor, or the popular fizzy drink trending on social media." https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/walmart-consumer-china.amp https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/walmart-consumer-china.am... At this point, Walmart China feels more like a “strategic” (read: FOMO) decision than anything that makes sense long-term. > "It’s been a regular part of [Walmart’s] cadence to be there to understand what’s happening," Mr. Berke said. "Historically, it’s been, ‘This is the biggest retail market in the world and its growth has far outpaced any other. How can we participate, and be part of all that growth?’"

baja_blast 4y ago

Walmart may be doing poorly, but Carrefour(French version of Walmart) is doing much better. There are also local alternatives, so it's not the concept behind Walmart that doesn't work, it's Walmart itself that has failed.

bobthepanda 4y ago
Carrefour had lower retail market share than Walmart. It also sold 80% of its Chinese operations in 2019. A big thing with Carrefour is that it also operates convenience stores, which are very much not big box stores, and which Walmart doesn‘t really do or do well. https://daxueconsulting.com/carrefour-in-china/ https://daxueconsulting.com/carrefour-in-china/