Indiaretailing.com: Chinese and Russian Retailers in the World's Largest Retailers List
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of an article from Indiaretailing.com, presented here for discussion.
Chinese and Russian retailers have, for the first time, ranked on the list of the world's 250 largest retailers, according to 2008 Global Powers of Retail, a report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in conjunction with STORES magazine.
The report said six retailers from the two countries have entered the Top 250 rankings, including Chinese retailer Bailian Group, which entered the list at number 101. The highest ranked Russian retailer was X5 Retail Group NV (X5) at number 191. Bailian was formed in 2003 when the Shanghai municipal government merged several retailing groups in an effort to reduce costs and compete more effectively against foreign companies. X5 was formed in May 2006 through the merger of Pyaterochka and Perekrestok, two leading Russian chains.
The other new entries from China are Suning Appliance Co. Ltd. (216), GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Limited (#218) and Dalian Dashang Group (224). The other Russian chain is privately owned Euroset Group (229), that country's largest mobile handset retailer.
Dr Ira Kalish, Deloitte Research, said, "This is an exciting time for global retailing. There is evidence of consolidation and modernization in emerging markets, and the strategies behind the emergence of these new stores reflect a growing maturity among emerging market businesses."
Wal-Mart continued to top the list, and increased its lead over second placed Carrefour. The big mover was Tesco PLC (Tesco), which overtook German retail giant Metro AG to take fourth place, the first movement among the Top five since 2003. In doing so, Tesco also became the second largest retailer in Europe and is gaining ground on Carrefour.
Dr. Kalish added, "The Top 10 retailers' share of Top 250 combined sales continues to inch up. With combined sales of $978.5 billion in fiscal 2006, the world's 10 largest retailers accounted for 30.1 per cent of Top 250 sales compared with 29.4 percent in 2005."
Discussion Questions: How do you think the rise of Chinese and Russian retailers will influence the style of retailing in other world markets and international trade? With retailer consolidation taking place in foreign markets, do you think it will be long before these large concerns shift their eyes towards the U.S. market? Can you elaborate on experiences you've had with Russian and/or Chinese retailers?