The fastest growing large economy in the world is India, according to the 22nd edition of Deloitte’s Global Power of Retailing. Longer term, India’s favourable demographics bode well for strong growth and a rising middle class, adds the report which identifies 250 largest retailers of the world across demographics with minimum retail revenue of $3.7 billion.
The apparel and accessories sector earned the second highest composite retail revenue growth of 7.1 per cent in FY2017, however the sector couldn’t reclaim its position as the clear growth leader. The apparel and accessories sector continued to be the most profitable product sector with a composite net profit margin of 6 per cent and a return on assets composite of 7.8 per cent, the Global Power of Retailing 2019 states in its product sector analysis.
“The global economy is currently at a turning point,” the report mentions and adds, “For retailers, this change will mean slower consumer spending growth, higher consumer prices, and disrupted global supply chains.” The report also pinpoints the major economic trends that will potentially move the retail world, their business and rankings globally.
Compared to the previous edition of the report, there is no major change in the top 10 retailers list, with the top 3 retaining their position. Walmart stores tops the rank followed by Costco Wholesale Corporation and The Kroger Co. Amazon was the major gainer as it jumped two positions to rank 4. The top 10 retailers are globally focused with operations in an average of 13 countries, except for The Kroger Co—the only top 10 ranked company with no international operations.
India’s Reliance Retail ranked 6th in the list of ‘50 fastest-growing retailers globally between FY2013-2018’ in the Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2019 index. Reliance Retail recorded a growth of 55.8 per cent CAGR to achieve the feat. It is the only Indian company and a new entrant to be featured in the list.
Nearly a quarter of the companies from the top 250 retailers are from the Asia-Pacific region. Around 73 per cent of the retailers in the region are from China / Hong Kong and Japan, while the remaining retailers are from the other Asia-Pacific nations like Australia, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and New Zealand.
