China vs. Australia: A Comprehensive Report on Retail Management

This report provides a comparative analysis of retail management practices in China and Australia. It begins with an overview of the Asia-Pacific retail landscape, highlighting the region's significant growth and the influences of global economic powers. The report then delves into the specific characteristics of the retail sectors in both China and Australia, examining the types of retail outlets, product positioning strategies, and the impact of e-commerce. A detailed comparison is made, discussing the rapid growth of the Chinese retail market, the adoption of technology like cashless shopping, and the gradual growth of Australia's retail sector. The report also explores the challenges faced by retailers in both countries, including operational costs and political interference. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for retailers, emphasizing the importance of consumer data analysis, embracing competition, investing in innovation, and diversifying retail channels. The report uses multiple sources to support the arguments and provide a complete overview of retail management in these two countries.

RETAIL MANAGEMENT IN CHINA
VS AUTRALIA
BY;

Introduction
 The Asian pacific retailing bloc is largely dominated by economic giants like China,
Japan, Australia, South Korea, Chile among others Kacker (2015). Retail in the
region has seen tremendous development over the years and is still experiencing
further developments.
 This transformation is largely attributed to the influence of world economic
heavyweights such the US, Europe and Japan which are said to be heavily involved in
injecting transformative ideas and concepts that have greatly contributed to the
changes in the retailing styles used in the region.
 Asian Pacific region has seen tremendous increase in retail growth within a span of
six years dating back from 2010 to late 2016, topping in the retail index. The
performance within this period outmatched all other retail regions in the world (Stine
and Ghasemi 2017) .
 Despite the upsurge in the retailing capacity in the Asian Pacific region, it is
worthwhile to note the characteristics of the net retailing profits that accrue from the
retailing in this region, interestingly, there is a dip in the profits as shown in figure 1
below.

Figure 1.

Characteristics of Retail in
Australia
 Retailing in Australia is dominated by variety of retail outlets dealing with
different products and services.
 Australian retail sector is also dominated with retail centers such as open
stores, supermarkets and other small shopping points where customers
walk in at their comfort to pick goods or to acquire a service of interest
(Euromonitor.com 2018)
 Product positioning is a very important characteristic of retailing shops in
Australia, there is a trend of classification of products in the retailing
stores for example supermarkets where food stuffs are grouped together
and given a specific location inside the supermarket (Dickson, 2018).
 Department stores in Australia are engaged in offering a number of
services to their clients apart from just selling the products. They purchase
goods from wholesalers and resell the products to their customers without
changing the nature of the product itself.

Retail in China- Case study
 China also has supermarkets which serve its customers in almost
similar capacity. China has however induced technology into
shopping where consumers are having a whole new experience
on shopping e.g the use of Hema app (Majberg 2018).
 Cashless shopping is quickly taking center stage in China and
rapidly spreading across many retail centers for example Alibaba.

Cont..
 Just like in Australia, there is rapid growth of the ecommerce as
the new form of retailing embraced by both big and small
retailers in the market (Euromonitor International, 2018).
 Product positioning is also significant in Chinese retail centers.
Retailers have mastered the art of positioning their products
inside the retail centers to capture the attention of the
consumers at a glance.
 Department stores in China employ the use of new offering
provision whose aim is to capture more consumers. Such
offerings include discounts, after sales service and incentives to
consumers. (Fung Business Intelligence Centre 2013) .

Comparison between Retail in
China and Australia
 According to Rhim and Salman (2018), Chinese retail market is on
rapid growth despite challenges of stiff competition in the retail
market. The rapid growth is attributed to advancement in
technology and the ability to embrace ecommerce.
 Global Retail Development Index of 2014 ranked China at position
two worldwide ahead of other major players like the US, Europe and
Japan, thanks to the continuous innovative strategies used by the
Chinese.
 Australia is not left out in the pursuit of better retailing terms
worldwide. Australia’s retail sector is in gradual growth with the
inclusion of the ecommerce initiative in most of the retail taking
place. Australia according to A.T Kearney Global Retail
Development Index, is ranked tenth.

Challenges facing Retail in China
and Australia
 The challenges that face these two nations range from social,
economic, cultural and political (Cooper, 2018).
 According to Cooper (2018), Increasing operational costs such as
the cost of renting and the entry of big players in the market
which push other traders out of the sector is a major challenge.
 Political interference also poses a great risk to the development
of the retailing sector.

Conclusion
 In conclusion therefore, retail as a sector in the Asia-Pacific region
is on the verge of increase in performance despite the fact that
there are a majority of bottlenecks that constraint this sector
limiting it to achieve its full potentiality. The Global Retail
Development Index has data that shows tremendous increase in
performance in most countries in the Asia-Pacific region in most
products sold in the retail markets. Despite a deep in some years,
there is an overall growth of the retail sector in this region, and
China and Australia are not left out.

Recommendations
 Retailers need to collect and analyze consumer data so as to fully
understand who they serve and what do they need.
 Retailers need to realize that competition is healthy for their businesses
as it tells one what the competitor is doing best and how best it can do
better than the competitor.
 Countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to invest more on innovation in
retail markets in order to continue remaining relevance even in the
presence of many competitors .
 Diversification of different retailing channels is also important for the
better performance of the retail sector.
 Witt and McKay (2018) note that it is coherent that countries in the
Asia-Pacific region realize the importance of showing political will in
retailing just like in China and Australia.

References
 Accountlearning.com (2018). Departmental Stores | Characteristics | Advantages |
Disadvantages. [online] Available at:
https://accountlearning.com/departmental-stores-characteristics-advantages-disadvantages/
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Baker, M. (2018). The 10 Characteristics of Highly Effective Retailers. [Blog] Available at:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/the-10-characteristics-of-highly-effective-re
tailers-20110907-1jx1i.html
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].
 China Briefing News. (2018). Sales, Import, and Manufacture of Alcoholic Beverages in China -
China Briefing News. [online] Available at:
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2017/07/20/sales-import-manufacture-alcoholic-beverag
es-china.html
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 China Business Review. (2018). Understanding China's Retail Market - China Business Review.
[online] Available at:
https://www.chinabusinessreview.com/understanding-chinas-retail-market/ [Accessed 14 Sep.
2018].
 Cloudways.com (20 18). Here Is a List of Top 20 E-commerce Sites of Australia In
2018 [online] Available at
https://www.cloudways.com/blog/top-20-ecommerce-sites-in-australia/ [Accessed 12

References continue…
 Moore, K. (2018). Australian retail still has a long way to grow online - SmartCompany.
[online] SmartCompany. Available at:
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/retail/australian-retail-long-way-grow-online/
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].
 Rhim, H. and Salman, F. (2018). Global Retail Development Index - A.T. Kearney | Australia.
[online] Atkearney.com.au. Available at:
http://www.atkearney.com.au/consumer-products-retail/global-retail-development-index
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Simpson, R. (2018). The Current Challenges Facing Retail in Australia And The US | The Retail
Solution. [online] Theretailsolution.com.au. Available at:
http://theretailsolution.com.au/the-current-challenges-facing-retail-in-australia-and-the-us/
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Stevens, N. (2018). Australia Remains a Top 10 E-Commerce Market - News Release Local -
A.T. Kearney | Australia - A.T. Kearney. [online] Atkearney.com.au. Available at:
https://www.atkearney.com.au/news-media/news-releases/news-release-local/-/asset_publishe
r/f51ozYPWtMuZ/content/australia-remains-a-top-10-e-commerce-market?_101_INSTANCE_f51
ozYPWtMuZ_redirect=/news-media
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].

References continue…
 Cooper, R. (2018). Challenges and opportunities of retailing in
2018 - retailbiz. [online] retailbiz. Available at:
https://www.retailbiz.com.au/topics/trends-research/challenges-o
pportunities-retailing-in-2018/
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Deloitte Montenegro. (2018). Global Powers of Retailing | Deloitte
| Consumer Business industry reports. [online] Available at:
https://www2.deloitte.com/me/en/pages/consumer-business/articl
es/global-powers-of-retailing.html
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

References continue…
 Stine, S. and Ghasemi, M. (2017). Asia Pacific Retail in Transition.
[ebook] DHR International. Available at:
https://www.dhrinternational.com/files/5314/9151/3600/DHR_Asia_R
etail_in_Transition-April2017.pdf
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].
 Witt, M. and McKay, Z. (2018). The Ten Principles For Doing
Business In China. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insead/2012/03/06/the-ten-principles-
for-doing-business-in-china/#c9177461d82d
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Zarirah, N. (2018). Corporate Characteristics of Retail Industry
among 11 Asian and American Countries. [online]
Yasuohoshino.com. Available at:
http://yasuohoshino.com/2016%20Nurul%20Hoshino%20J%20Mana
%20Research.pdf

References continue…
 Dickson, J. (2018). 50 most powerful retailers - Inside Retail. [online] Inside Retail. Available at:
https://www.insideretail.com.au/news/50-powerful-retailers-201401 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Euromonitor.com. (2018). Retailing in Australia. [online] Available at:
https://www.euromonitor.com/retailing-in-australia/report [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].
 Farfan, B. (2018). Fast Facts About Australian Retailing and Largest Aussie Retailers. [online] The Balance
Small Business. Available at: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/largest-australian-retailers-2892105
 Fung Business Intelligence Centre (2013). Department stores in China. [ebook] Fung Business Intelligence
Centre. Available at: https://www.funggroup.com/eng/knowledge/research/china_dis_issue117.pdf [Accessed
14 Sep. 2018].
 Heffernan, M. (2018). Lululemon props up Aussie arm. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/lululemon-props-up-aussie-arm-20170113-gtqzms.html
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018]
 Howard, E. ed., 2013. The changing face of retailing in the Asia Pacific. Routledge.
 Ibisworld.com.au. (2018). Department Stores – Australia Industry Research Reports | IBISWorld. [online]
Available at:
https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/market-research-reports/retail-trade/other-store-based-retailing/
department-stores.html
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 International, E. (2018). Retailing in China. [online] Euromonitor.com. Available at:
https://www.euromonitor.com/retailing-in-china/report [Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].

References…
 Kacker, M. (2015). Internationalization of Retailing in the Asia-
Pacific Region: Current Trends and Future Outlook. Developments in
Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing
Science, [online] pp.496-503. Available at:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-17320-7_132#
citeas
[Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].
 Majberg, A. (2018). The Future of Retail is Happening Right Now in
China | Alizila.com. [online] Alizila.com. Available at:
https://www.alizila.com/future-of-retail-happening-in-china/
[Accessed 14 Sep. 2018].
 Miller, D. (2018). [online] Bear.warrington.ufl.edu. Available at:
http://bear.warrington.ufl.edu/oh/IRET/Slides/1.5Current%20Status
%20and%20Format%20of%20China%E2%80%99s%20Retail%20Ind
ustry.pdf