Kantar, a market analysis consulting company, recently released a forecast of the retail industry’s trends in the next five years. The report and research involved more than 1,500 largest retailers in the world. Among them, the global apparel market will grow at a rate of 3.9% per year, and the market value will increase by USD 64 billion within five years.

Kantar said that about half of the growth in the apparel market will come from the five major retailers: Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing, Zara’s parent company Spain Inditex, Sweden H&M Group, and U.S. discount retailer TJX and Old Navy, a brand of Gap Group. The report predicts that in 2020, the overall value of the global fashion retail market will reach USD 300 billion. By 2025, this figure can reach USD 360 billion.

 

Comprehensive analysis of the global retail market, including large supermarkets, brands, discount stores, 2020 sales will reach USD 6,700 billion, an annual growth rate of 4.8%. More importantly, e-commerce is bound to lead the future growth of the retail industry. This year, e-commerce business increased by 15.7% year-on-year to reach USD 861 billion. Online sales channels currently account for 12% of total global retail sales, and in the next five years, its growth rate will be four times that of physical transactions. According to Kantar’s forecast, e-commerce revenue will exceed USD 1 trillion in 2021, and by 2025, this figure will reach USD 1.6 trillion.

 

From a regional perspective, retail in the Asia-Pacific region is growing faster than North America and Europe, with a growth rate of 8.6% in Asia, 3.9% in North America and 3.8% in Europe.

 

Kantar pointed out that by 2025, Walmart in the United States will remain the world’s largest retailer, ahead of e-commerce giant Amazon, but the gap between the two will narrow. Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com has the strongest growth and will rank third in the world in the next five years.

 

The Asia-Pacific region has the highest proportion of online sales, reaching 19%, because it is an important birthplace of the e-commerce model. Kantar pointed out: “The growth potential is not limited to China. With the expansion of other innovative companies such as Indian e-commerce company Flipkart or Southeast Asian Grab, markets such as India and Indonesia have also gained new opportunities.