South-east Asia retailers need to take a leaf from China's playbook

THE one thing that never fails to surprise anyone is the sheer scale of China and its retail landscape. According to eMarketer, China's retail market is worth an estimated US$5.072 trillion in 2020. Since 2020, it has become the world's largest retail market that shows no signs of slowing down. To put this into perspective, the estimated value of the Singapore retail market in September 2021 was about US$2.53 billion.

With the slowing retail market in the Asia Pacific region and in Singapore specifically, there is a need to look north to China. Boasting a diversified retail market (the 100 leading retail companies taking up a market share of relatively low 6.3 per cent in 2019 according to Statista) and sustained growth, it is proving to be both a case study and a benchmark for retailers, particularly smaller players, in the region.

The question is, do South-east Asia and Singapore retailers have the potential to reach China's level? With growing wealth and a strengthening infrastructure, there is a lot of potential, but changes need to be made.