Hypermarkets sales are expected to hit a new high of more than NT$180 billion (US$5.43 billion) this year as operators have made great efforts to develop e-commerce platforms to boost sales, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Saturday.
Hypermarket operators have worked with renowned brands in a wide range of industries, such as fashion, restaurants and telecommunications providers, to broaden their production lines, a move which is expected to attract more consumers, the ministry said.
Since the government last month launched short-term economic stimulus measures to encourage consumers to buy energy-efficient home appliances, hypermarket operators have been among the beneficiaries.
Last year, revenue of Taiwan’s hypermarket business totaled NT$175.8 billion, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.
Helped by plans to add outlets countrywide, hypermarket operators have seen their operations improve in the first 10 months of this year, posting NT$153.9 billion in sales, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, ministry statistics showed.
Carrefour, the largest hypermarket operator in the nation, added 12 stores to its chain in the first 10 months of this year to bring its total outlets to 82.
The French retailer has intensified efforts to open smaller stores in urban neighborhoods, the ministry said.
RT-Mart (大潤發) is the second-largest hypermarket operator, with 26 outlets as of the end of October, while A-Mart (愛買) had 20 outlets as of the end of October, up one from the end of last year.
Costco came in fourth with 11 outlets as of the end of October, up one from the end of last year, followed by Taisuco (台糖量販), a retail business division of state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖), which operated five stores as of the end of October, unchanged from last year.
There were a total of 145 hypermarket outlets in the nation as of the end of October, 14 more than the end of last year.
The ministry said that the local hypermarket business accounted for 16.2 percent of sales posted by the nation’s retail industry in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 15.9 percent last year.
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