China’s prime 100 grocery store chains recorded gross sales of 900 billion yuan ($125.38 billion) in 2024, up 0.3 % year-on-year, with the whole variety of shops reaching 25,200, in accordance with the most recent report by the China Chain Retailer and Franchise Affiliation (CCFA).
China’s grocery store sector is displaying indicators of restoration, with membership-based and low cost codecs rising as key drivers of progress, the “2024 China Grocery store High 100” report confirmed on Wednesday.
The annual report discovered that 42 firms reported year-on-year gross sales progress, whereas 25 expanded their retailer footprint. Notably, 14 firms managed to develop each their income in addition to retailer numbers — an indication of resilience amid shifting shopper habits and price pressures.
Retailer-level operations have proven measurable enchancment throughout the sector. In keeping with the report, over 60 % of the highest 100 chains on the record skilled higher retailer efficiency in 2024, aided by restructuring efforts, digitalization, and format innovation.
Mid-sized chains with annual gross sales of between 3 billion yuan and 10 billion yuan had been notably profitable, recording the very best share of operational enchancment, the report mentioned.
Walmart China as soon as once more topped the rankings with 158.8 billion yuan in gross sales, pushed by the continued enlargement of its Sam’s Membership membership format and a robust push into omnichannel retail.
Since 2021, Walmart has recorded double-digit progress in web gross sales, with on-line channels now accounting for almost half of its income. The US retail big has centered on renovating shops, upgrading merchandise choices and introducing new codecs tailor-made to medium-sized and community-based wants.
Within the first quarter of this 12 months, Walmart China posted web gross sales of $6.7 billion, up 22.5 % from a 12 months earlier. Comparable gross sales rose 16.8 %, whereas e-commerce web gross sales jumped 34 %. Sam’s Membership added seven new areas over the previous 12 months nationwide, underscoring the model’s rising enchantment amongst Chinese language city shoppers.
On CCFA’s record, RT-Mart Funding (China) Co Ltd, which operates RT-Mart, RT-Mart Tremendous and M Membership shops, ranked second.
Alibaba’s retail platform Freshippo got here in third. Different sturdy performers included Costco, Hotmaxx, ALDI, and Yaodi Farming — all of which reported strong gross sales progress tied to their membership or value-oriented positioning.
For instance, Wumart Group launched 3,000 new merchandise underneath one in all its gross sales promotion initiatives final 12 months, resulting in a median worth drop of 20 %. The corporate additionally launched a “grocery store + giant canteen” mannequin in main cities like Beijing and Tianjin, with some areas seeing each day buyer site visitors exceeding 3,000.
The report discovered that e-commerce has continued its upward trajectory, with on-line channels accounting for 16.9 % of complete gross sales among the many prime 100 chains, up from earlier years. Operators more and more relied on “entrance warehouse” fashions — small, strategically positioned distribution hubs — to satisfy on-line orders shortly and effectively, particularly in main cities.
This development has blurred the strains between bodily and digital retail, pushing conventional grocery store chains to speed up their on-line integration and last-mile supply capabilities.
“Knowledge in recent times present that bodily retail has entered a stage of saturated competitors — progress pushed purely by retailer enlargement is not sustainable,” mentioned Pei Liang, chief researcher on the CCFA Analysis Institute.
“To keep up momentum on this new section, retailers should concentrate on enhancing retailer productiveness and effectivity by transformation and innovation, whereas enhancing product differentiation and cost-effectiveness by reshaping procurement and operational fashions.”
The report additionally factors to a rising focus of market energy among the many largest gamers. The highest 10 grocery store chains accounted for 66.6 % of complete gross sales in 2024, a determine that has risen steadily over the previous few years.
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