Wumart Stores: China's Response to Wal-Mart

Wumart Stores (Wumart) is a privately owned, indigenous Chinese retail chain operation founded by a private entrepreneur in 1994. The decade after its inception saw the company grow from a small, suburban supermarket to the seventh largest chain retailer (over 500 stores) in China. By using regional market positioning focusing on one of China's wealthiest regions--Beijing; implementing low-cost expansion strategies; taking the opportunity to restructure state-owned assets; employing multi-format store development in both the most mature and fastest growing segment; and making the earliest commitment to information technology among its domestic peers, Wumart establishes strong competitive advantages that set it apart from its domestic competition. On the company's 10th anniversary, China fully opened its retail sector to foreign participation. Vying for a share in China's vast consumer market, but having been hindered by many regulatory obstacles, foreign retailing giants can now compete on a level platform backed by their ample financial resources, deep industry and management expertise, and long-term commitment to China. The market is becoming ever more competitive and is expected to experience massive consolidation. In the end, only the best performers with significant scale will survive. The test is for Wumart's management to develop strategies to sustain its competitive advantages in the face of challenges from both domestic peers and foreign giants, to carry on the success story, and to eventually realize its ambition of becoming an everlasting national brand.

• Business expansion
• Business growth
• Competitive advantage
• Consumer behavior