Departmental stores and hypermarkets
The world has been changing since the beginning of the year. Over the last 40-50 years we have seen extraordinary changes in our country. But as always we are still a developing country. The one thing that developing nations like us have in common is the fact that we are not (or not yet) developed economically. That is to say that we generally have low income levels and do not have a modern, diversified economy.
So we need to stand up as a developed nation and make a change on the economic front. In the past 5 – 10 years, we observed a significant growth in modern trade, especially in the Western Province – Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara. The hypermarket can play a big role in achieving the goal of being a developed country, Also Sri Lanka’s supermarket trade is expected to see an unprecedented growth within the next few years, backed by increasing per capita income, an increase in the work force and the changing consumption patterns, says a newly released equity research report. According to the report, the spread of the supermarket trade in the country as of now stands at just 15 per cent. This is not enough for the growth of modern lifestyles of consumers. People are looking for convenience and choice and like to shop as both functional and as a habit.
Hypermarkets are very large self-service stores with a wide range of goods and large car parks. This favourable shopping ambience which includes air conditioning, cleanliness, and excellent service can make a remarkable change in Sri Lankan economy. Those will include grocery stores, a drugstore, men’s and women’s wear, and automotive department, housewares, and other nonfood products, bakery, salon, fish market, meat shops and also nice and clean cafeterias. All these will focus on customers. These projects will create direct employment opportunities for 3,000-4,000 persons during the construction period and in addition 3,000 direct and indirect employment on commencement of business operations. On the other hand hypermarkets will be a competitor to other traditional trades, mini supermarkets, cooped cities and other many groceries. The result will be lower revenues, lower footfalls, lower profits and a cannibalization of business within the same supermarket chains. The major reason for this will be most staff in supermarkets and department stores lack product and brand knowledge.
Therefore staff needs to be well trained, not only in terms of categories, products and brands. Reasonable wages and incentives should be paid to motivate them. In my opinion hypermarkets won’t be a negative when considering population growth and the GDP. The population growth rate in the country increases by 0.8 per cent annually while GDP per capita income in Sri Lanka was last recorded at US$ 2135.66 in 2014. The GDP per capita in Sri Lanka is equivalent to 17 per cent of the world’s average. When we look at past data GDP per capita in Sri Lanka averaged $812.31 from 1960 until 2014, reaching all-time high in 2014. With this growth in mind hypermarkets may be the future and also provide a great shopping experience.