Recently, the integration of RT-Mart and Auchan supermarkets under Sun Art Retail has accelerated. 69 Auchan stores across China will gradually be renamed RT-Mart and this is expected to be completed in the second half of this year. As of March 31 this year, Sun Art Retail has completed the transformation of 38 hypermarkets. In the future, the number of restructured hypermarkets will increase at a rate of 40 to 50 stores per year.
Auchan, the second-largest retailer in France, entered the Chinese market in 1997. In 2000, Auchan Group signed a joint venture agreement with Tairun, RT-Mart’s parent company, and established a holding company Sun Art Retail in Hong Kong, for its operations in Mainland China, carried out under the two major brands of Auchan and RT-Mart. Sun Art Retail was listed in Hong Kong in 2011. At the end of 2018, Sun Art Retail transferred the retail business of Auchan in the mainland market to RT-Mart. Auchan and RT-Mart began to integrate in terms of their operations and supply chains, but Auchan’s independent brand was retained during the integration process.
In October 2020, Alibaba announced the plan to invest 28 billion Hong Kong dollars in Sun Art Retail and became its controlling shareholder with a direct and indirect holding of 71.94% of Sun Art Retail’s shares. Alibaba said that the vision of working with Sun Art Retail has become a reality: 484 stores of RT-Mart and Auchan Supermarkets under Sun Art Retail have fully moved onto the online space, and have access to Ele.me, Taoxianda, and TMall Supermarket’s shared stock operations. All stores provide 1-hour delivery within 5 kilometers, and 180 stores support half-day delivery within 20 kilometers.
According to Sun Art Retail’s 2019 annual report, the group’s sales, including 414 RT-Mart stores and 72 Auchan, have exceeded 100 billion yuan. In the group’s 2020 annual report, Sun Art Retail did not disclose the number of RT-Mart and Auchan stores but collectively referred to a total number of 490 stores. In the meantime, integration is still ongoing.
Source: Jiemian News, Beijing Youth Daily