Asian retailing A hyper market

摘要

Toget a feel for what is happening to re-A tailing in Asia, take a visit to Rama iv, a busy thoroughfare in Bangkok. Alongside a putrid canal, shoppers jostle among stalls, haggling for the fresh produce being unloaded throughout the day from trolleys. This is Bangkok's oldest "wet market", and it is how Asians have shopped for centuries. Then walk a few minutes up the road, to another world. Shoppers amble through spacious, air-conditioned aisles in halls the size of large warehouses, perusing the price labels on Thai silks, bicycles, furniture and food. This is one of two hypermarkets that have opened in the past few months on opposite sides of Rama iv. Betting that this is how Asians will want to shop in future, Tesco, a British retailer, and Carrefour, a French rival, were racing each other to open their stores first. In the end, it was a tie.