Article at a glance:

Hypergrowth for China's hypermarkets

Although hypermarkets still account for only a small portion of total retail sales in China, they have caught on with consumers and attracted attention—and investment—from the biggest players in the game. But hypermarkets in China are different from those in Europe or the United States. The traditional habits of Chinese consumers and limited car ownership are two of the many factors that have forced hypermarket operators to modify the format to fit the local market. In addition, the difficulty of identifying the right locations for new stores and of sourcing huge volumes of fresh foods makes running hypermarkets in China a unique challenge.

The take-away

The rapid rise of hypermarkets in China represents a huge opportunity for both domestic and multinational retailers trying to capture a piece of this enormous market. But tapping it will require tweaking the model to suit the unique requirements of China's retail landscape.