‘HYPERMARKET SALES NOT BENCHMARK’
It represents only 8pc of retail sales, says minister
HYPERMARKET sales cannot be viewed as the only benchmark to gauge the economic condition of Malaysia and its people, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Planning Unit) Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said.
He said this was especially so as data provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) showed that the share of hypermarket sales to retail sales was only eight per cent.
“Even so, the retail trade has been recording a strong growth in terms of value and volume.
“In terms of value, the retail trade registered double digit growth for three consecutive quarters last year, and in terms of volume, retail trade grew by 7.8 per cent, 11.5 per cent and 10.4 per cent in the first, second and third quarters of last year.”
Rahman said retail trade in the f i r s t 1 1 m o n t h s l a s t y e a r i ncreased to RM410.5 billion from RM367.7 billion in the same period for 2016, marking a growth of 11.6 per cent.
“The number of non-specialised stores, which include hypermarkets, increased from 66,920 establishments (2016) to 73,848 establishments (last year).
“This could be one of the reasons why some hypermarkets are facing slowing sales as consumers have more choices on where to shop,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The statement was issued in response to a news report on the comments made by the managing director of Mydin retail chain that despite Malaysia’s strong economic growth, people did not have money to spend and this was evidenced by the continued contraction of hypermarket sales.
Rahman said based on the Economic Census 2016 published by DOSM, e-Commerce transactions of business-to-consumer, valued at RM73.7 billion was expanding every year.
He said more people were buying products, including basic groceries, on the Internet.
“Some hypermarkets offer online grocery shopping and delivery for their customers.
“Those that have not ventured into this (industry) trend will lose out on the potential gains that come from the thriving online shopping scene.”
He said other figures indicated that Malaysians had more money to spend.
Citing domestic tourists’ spending, he said it grew by 10.2 per cent or RM74.8 billion in 2016 compared with RM67.7 billion in 2015.
He said shopping continued to be the biggest component of domestic tourists’ expenditure with its share of 35.3 per cent.
He said Malaysian tourists spent RM33.5 billion abroad in 2016, an increase from RM31.1 billion in 2015, despite the depreciating Ringgit during the said period.
“All these figures are in tandem with rising median monthly household income of 6.2 per cent per annum from RM4,585 in 2014 to RM5,228 in 2016 and soaring average monthly household expenditure of 5.9 per cent per annum from RM3,578 in 2014 to RM4,033 in 2016 reported in the Household Income and Expenditure Surveys by DOSM.
“Malaysia’s strong economic growth has benefited the people in terms of rising income and purchasing power, which, in turn boosts private consumption,” he said.