Retail Industry Comparison of China and United States Essay

Retail Industry Comparison of China and United States - Essay Example Retailing has advanced with technology and now we have what we call online retailing as well. There are different types of retail outlets. They are classified according to the products they sell and by marketing strategies. There are the types that do not fall in the two and are classified as others. Retailers of products are food products retailers, hard goods retailers and soft goods retailers. Retailers classified by marketing strategies are the most. They include, department stores, discount store, warehouse stores, variety stores, demographic retailers, Mom-And-Pop retailers, specialty stores, boutiques, general store, hypermarkets, supermarkets, malls, Category specialist, e-tailers, and vending machines. Automated retail stores and big box stores fall in the others category (Pradhan & Pradhan, 2009). Retail Industry in China China’s retail industry is now ranked as the second largest in the world after the USA. The chain stores and Chain supermarkets serving the daily n eeds of the people appeared in china in around a decade ago and they rapidly grew to the extent of being the second largest retail market worldwide. However, there is no dominant player in the retail industry despite its rapid growth, unlike the USA that has dominant players like Wal-Mart and others. Its rapid growth can be owed to the government of China in 1992. The government launched a series of policies to promote fast, orderly and healthy growth of the industry. One of the policies was permitting foreign investment in retailing. The government of China, by 1997, had approved about twenty-four foreign-invested stores. Hundreds of foreign-invested retailing, however, had been established before then after seeking approval from the provincial and municipal authorities (Zhen, 2007). The retailing sector of China is highly fragmented accommodating both medium sized and small retailers. This is different with the United States that have a dominating presence of big retailers. This i s because of the barriers local market access. China does however brag of a wide range of retail formats. Department stores are one of the earliest formats of retail outlets. They were very popular before but they are now facing competition and fighting to stay ahead. Examples of department stores in China are Parkson, Beijing Cuiwei, Golden Eagle, and Shenzhen Suibao. Another retail outlet format is the hypermarkets whose development are owed to the international retailers. Wal-Mart, Mart Shanghai, Trust-Mart, Tesco, and Carrefour are examples of hypermarkets. Supermarkets are another retail outlet that is facing competition. Domestic players dominate this highly fragmented market. Examples of supermarkets in china are Baijia Supermarket and A-Best Supermarket. Convenience stores are not fully developed retailers but are already facing competition from especially from domestic chains. Quick of LianHua is an example of convenience store in China. Specialty stores are retail outlets dominated by domestic players with foreign investment being very limited. Examples are GOME and Suning. Discount stores are still evolving and the first one was introduced in 2003 by Carrefour. Franchising retailing constitutes for around three percent of the total retail market of china with a huge potential for growth in the future. Examples are Pizza Hut, MacDonald’s, KFC, and 7-eleven. Direct selling is another retailing format of china. Its potential for future growth is large. Examples of direct selling retailers are AMWAY, Avon,