Retailing

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on vending in China in 2022. After the challenging year of 2020, when the pandemic first hit the country, vending showed signs of recovery in 2021, as work and social lives in China returned to normal…

Although only temporary, the supermarkets channel in China experienced a spike in sales during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers engaged in panic-buying and stockpiling, although it saw a slight current value decline in 2020…

Small local grocers in China includes a broad range of outlet types, which range from mom-and-pop stores to wet markets. After a better year in 2021, 2022 proved to be another tough year for China’s small local grocers, as the spread of the Omicron…

After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, China followed a zero-COVID policy, which aimed to maintain the total case numbers as close to zero as possible. Zero-COVID proved to be successful in 2021, with China recording far fewer total case numbers…

In 2020, the community group buying model emerged as a popular e-commerce trend in China, to solve the inconvenience caused by COVID-19 lockdowns. Neighbourhood committees created WeChat groups to gather residents’ shopping lists, and online orders…

Hypermarkets in China experienced a temporary spike in sales during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers engaged in panic-buying and stockpiling. However, since then, the channel has seen a return to decline in current value sales,…

The year 2022 was challenging for China’s home products specialists, due to a decrease in foot traffic during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This decline in foot traffic was the result of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the country, which led…

Pharmacies maintained strong growth in China in 2022, especially boosted at the end of the year. The growth in the channel in China was fuelled by increasing demand for a wide range of products, including fever-reducing drugs, vitamins, dietary…

2022 proved to be another tough year for China’s general merchandise stores, as the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 resulted in tightened pandemic restrictions and reduced foot traffic. The decrease in customer visits had a direct…

With a slowdown in economic growth and rising costs of living, Chinese consumers have increasingly been turning to discounters to find value in their purchases. The COVID-19 pandemic only intensified this trend, as many people experienced job losses…

The pandemic hit direct selling at a time when the channel was already facing strong challenges. Direct sellers were required to obtain approval from local officials for each meeting or gathering. Hosting large-scale demonstrations or meetings…

Convenience stores benefited considerably from being considered essential retailers from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The channel continued to see solid current value growth in 2022. The habit of buying groceries online remained even…

After some respite in 2021, 2022 was another challenging year for appliances and electronics specialists in China, due to a decrease in foot traffic during the lockdowns. The decline in foot traffic was the result of the spread of the Omicron variant…

Similar to 2020, 2022 was marked by significant disruptions to the operations of offline apparel and footwear specialists in China, due to the lockdowns that were enforced across cities of all tiers. In the first three quarters of the year, the…

The lack of mobility due to COVID-19 restrictions negatively impacted sales in the vending channel in 2020. While the threat of the pandemic remained relevant in South Korea in 2021, a gradual relaxing of restrictions meant that many educational…

Since the reopening of the country’s international borders in April 2022, there have been an increasing number of vending machines available in Malaysia in locations such as highway rest and service areas, petrol stations, universities, hospitals and…

Supermarkets have been losing sales to other grocery retailers in recent years, with convenience stores evolving into “mini supermarkets”, with the increasing introduction of grocery products, and hypermarkets winning over supermarket shoppers by…

Like hypermarkets, the supermarkets channel struggled for growth during the pandemic as consumers adjusted their shopping behaviour. Due to the restrictions in place and the fear of contagion, alongside a shift to home working arrangements, many…

Although sales at small local grocers increased in 2022, this is likely to be a one-off, with this channel having lost a lot of sales over the review period and also expected to be in decline over the forecast period. In addition, in spite of rising…

One of the most important influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on small local grocers was the huge shift towards working from home among white-collar professionals, office workers and service industry personnel. This deprived many small local grocers…