Are the department stores in China beginning to enter a recession like those in western developed countries?

At present, the development of China's department store industry presents the characteristics of scale, collectivization, diversification and extension to new formats. Judging from the market situation, large department stores are as follows:

1. The economic benefits are declining.

Although the retail sales of consumer goods in the whole society increased by 9.7% in 2000 compared with the previous year, the gross profit margin of department store retail enterprises declined as a whole, from 12.9% in the previous year to 12%, far below the level of 30% in developed countries. The profit growth of enterprises is much lower than the sales growth, and the effect of reducing losses is not ideal. According to the statistics of China National Business Information Center, in 2000, the total sales of 273 key large-scale retail malls reached 65.438+02.939 billion yuan, an increase of 654.38+09% over the previous year (an increase of 654.38+080 and a decrease of 93); Retail sales107.28 billion yuan, up13.6% over the previous year (190 up, down 83%); However, the total profit realized in the same period decreased by 9.9% compared with the previous year.

2. Excessive expansion of competition in the same industry.

Judging from the development in recent years, the construction speed of department store retail enterprises in most cities far exceeds the actual purchasing power growth level of residents. In large and medium-sized cities, the number of large-scale shopping malls with annual sales of more than1.200 million yuan has expanded from 98 in 1.992 to more than 1.000 in 2000, and quite a few of them are still under construction or preparation. In order to expand sales and increase market share, businesses minimize profits. A large number of small retailers with low profit margin expectations have further deteriorated the income level of the industry.

3. Different commercial formats compete to occupy market share.

Various commercial formats attract consumers and occupy market share with their own different characteristics. 19 among the top 50 retail enterprises in China, 10 has the slowest growth, and 9 of them are large department stores, all of which have negative growth; In the top 50 of 10, supermarkets accounted for 5 seats, which changed the history of department stores in the past. At the same time, the market share of collective businesses with similar characteristics to traditional department stores is also declining.

4. The market lacks hot spots, and the consumer demand is obviously broken.

The income level of urban and rural residents has improved to a certain extent, and the demand for popularization and food and clothing has been basically saturated, but the new high-level purchasing power has not yet formed, and the demand for higher-level enjoyment and development is still in a state of "unattainable", and the purchasing power of residents has been diverted through various channels, so the demand for commodity consumption will gradually weaken in recent years. Therefore, it is difficult for the consumer goods market to sell well.