Vietnam leads Asia for growth in convenience stores
‘Among all the bricks-and-mortar grocery channels, convenience shows the strongest growth prospects in Asia,’ says IGD specialist
By Barry Elliott
Asia’s grocery market is the largest in the world, with a predicted 6.3 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) up to 2021, according to the worldwide food and grocery research specialists at IGD. The size of the Asian market is forecast to reach US$4.8 trillion by 2021: equivalent to that of Europe and North America combined.
In the convenience store channel alone, IGD is forecasting a high double-digit CAGR over the next four years in Vietnam (37.4 per cent), the Philippines (24.2 per cent) and Indonesia (15.8 per cent), based on the performance of the leading convenience store operators in each market.
IGD has done extensive research and gleaned important insights that are useful to all of us working in the supply chain field across this region. The main reaction we have, however, is that what is presented may not be taking into account the already well-developed base in some of the countries included, especially the likes of Thailand and others that are found lower in the rankings.
Based on our experience, we would say that what IGD is finding and predicting is well founded, but the important observation may be more about where the various countries are in their evolution than about relative growth.
Nick Miles, head of Asia-Pacific at IGD, says: “The retail markets in these three countries are gradually shifting from traditional to modern trade, and there are several factors driving this: a positive economic outlook, a significant increase in GDP per capita, deregulated markets encouraging more foreign investment, and rapidly changing shopper habits.