First RT-Mart Super opens in China

China’s largest retailer, Sun Art Group, has opened its first RT-Mart Super. Located in Changzhou. this is RT-Mart’s first medium-sized store. With a sales area of 3,900 m2, the store carries more than 1,500 SKUs, covering main categories such as fresh, dairy, chilled, ambient as well as general merchandise products. The group is actively seeking ways to lessen its reliance on hypermarkets, as China’s consumers gravitate towards smaller and more compact stores, partially driven by China’s urbanisation.

The RT-Mart Super is group’s latest move in its plans to develop a multi-channel and multi-format business. The retailer has also recently launched two other new formats: RT-mini (new convenience format) and RH Lavia (high-end boutique store).

The RT-Mart Super will focus on the fresh produce segment, with no overnight products being sold. Gradually increasing discounts throughout the day will be used to incentivise consumers to purchase the remaining stock, with all vegetables being free from 22:00 (for members only).

The stores will also feature a pet nursery facility near the entrance for looking after the pets while the owners are inside the store

A press release from RT-Mart read:

“For RT-Mart, the establishment of this medium-sized store is an attempt to optimise and improve offline property efficiency and commodity efficiency. It is too early to say whether this format will become the main force of RT-Mart. Having said that, supermarkets that are of 3,000-4,000 square meters are rare but emerging in China. This represents a great opportunity for transforming hypermarkets. Our effort is more likely to be on an iterative process of test and learn. The new format will inevitably require a lot of explorations.”