Strong consumer spending will benefit the mass grocery retail market but value-added services such as online shopping are not expected to gain much ground given logistics and infrastructure hurdles, a research firm said. Advertisements“Growing consumer spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks, an urbanizing population and the majority of households falling in the low-income bracket will benefit the development of the formal mass grocery retail (MGR) market … notably price-competitive hypermarkets and supermarkets,” Fitch-owned BMI Research said. By 2021, food and non-alcoholic drinks are expected to account for 37 percent of household spending, followed by housing necessities and utilities. “The growing spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks provides greatest opportunities in MGR,” BMI added, noting that overall low household income levels mean that Filipino consumers will continue to use most of their incomes on essential spending. Growing urbanization will increase the number of consumers for formal grocery outlets, it said, but majority of the population is expected to remain within the low-income bracket.

Source: Manila Times October 31, 2017 17:15 UTC