Japanese retailer Aeon has strengthened its position as the leading retailer in the region with a 16.3% rise in net sales in local currency, according to M+M.
Aeon’s retail operations actually had a disappointing year in 2003, said M+M, as the unseasonable weather hit sales of summer merchandise and price cutting in the Japanese grocery sector took a toll. However, the group was still able to grow impressively thanks to its strategy of supporting and then absorbing struggling rivals.
The Japanese grip on the top three positions in the ranking was broken in 2003 when Australia’s Woolworths and Coles Myer were both able to leapfrog Daiei into third and fourth place respectively. Daiei has been shedding sales for a number of years and 2003 was no exception, with a net loss of 241 stores during the year leading to a 9.4% fall in net sales in local currency.
Woolworths and Coles Myer, meanwhile, are locked in a battle for supremacy in Australia, according to M+M’s study. Sales have been driven by the retailers’ move into petrol retailing and offering fuel discounts to drive footfall. Coles Myer launched an alliance with Shell in May 2003, establishing a fuel discount scheme at 598 sites. Woolworths subsequently teamed up with Caltex but the Coles’ discount scheme is reported to have been the most effective in pulling customers back into stores.
Only four non-Asian companies made it into the top 30. Carrefour is the largest non-Asian retailer in the region, ranked ninth. Tesco has made the largest inroads in the region with a presence in Turkey, China and Japan. It is currently ranked 12th but tipped to break into the top 10 in next year’s ranking.
