Euromonitor International – a market research group – has revealed that Pakistan is currently the world’s fastest-growing retail market.
The research predicts that the market will keep expanding by 8.2% each year till 2021. The disposable income in Pakistan has increased since 2010. Euromonitor said that the size of the middle-class in Pakistan is expected to surpass UK and Italy in coming years.
Pakistan’s improving security, cheap prices and commercial expansion (~5%) is the main factor driving customers to hit the markets.
Jinnah Institute’s research shows that almost two-thirds of the population is below 30 years of age. This is relevant because young people are focused more on spending than saving, Euromonitor says.
“We have a new millennial shopper at hand. They don’t mind spending to have the kind of lifestyle they would like,” said Shabori Das, senior research analyst at Euromonitor.
It’s not like the Baby Boomer generation where savings for the future generation was important.
E-commerce has played a major role in driving the numbers up. As Pakistani people became aware of its usage, they have been utilizing it a lot more than other countries because of the good prices and security.
The growing market has been getting a lot of attention from foreign operators like Arcelik AS, a Turkish appliance maker, and Dutch dairy company, Royal FrieslandCampina NV. These companies entered Pakistan last year.
As we all know, automobile manufacturers were also attracted to this market and are already setting up plants and offices in Pakistan.
In the past two years, the biggest shopping malls of Pakistan were built such as Lucky One in Karachi, Packages Mall and Emporium Mall in Lahore. The retail store diversity is expected to increase by 50% to 1 million retail outlets in the next 5 years.
