Attitudes of Chinese consumers towards retail formats

The Chinese consumer goods market is widely considered to be one of the economic hot spots of the world. China seems to be the market with the largest growth potential within the next decade. Multina - tional retail companies, for example, Wal-Mart, Metro and Carrefour have made large investments to open up this new market. However, parallel to the positive aspects of the market development, foreign retail companies entering the market encounter numerous risks and difficulties. Whereas questions concerned with logistical problems are being discussed more often, analyses focusing on the shopping behavior of Chinese consumers are rare. In this context, the following report provides information on store preferences based on a comprehensive survey of 800 citizens of Wuhan. In detail, the research focuses on decision- making problems of Chinese consumer s and determines their preferences for foreign chain stores on the one hand and for domestic supermarkets and traditional retail formats on the other hand. All in all, traditional wet markets still dominate shopping behaviour. Nevertheless, modern retail outlets are ac - cepted as an alternative, although they are mainly used in addition to the daily shopping at traditional wet markets. However, this research shows that even in a more domestic market - oriented city like Wuhan, traditional shopping patterns are being abandoned and more differentiated shopping patterns are emerging.