Retail Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2034

This report describes and explains the retail market and covers 2019-2024, termed the historic period, and 2024-2029, 2034F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global retail market reached a value of nearly $28.43 trillion in 2024, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.57% since 2019. The market is expected to grow from $28.43 trillion in 2024 to $41.71 trillion in 2029 at a rate of 7.96%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.92% from 2029 and reach $61.06 trillion in 2034.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the rise in smartphone penetration, e-commerce growth and expansion of department stores. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were labor shortages and stringent regulations and compliance.

Going forward, the significant adoption of automation, growth of shopping malls, favorable government initiatives and increase in use of digital payment systems will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the retail market in the future include supply chain disruptions and inflation and price sensitivity.

North America was the largest region in the retail market, accounting for 32.66% or $9.28 trillion of the total in 2024. It was followed by Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the retail market will be Middle East and Africa where growth will be at CAGRs of 11.00% and 9.84% respectively. These will be followed by South America and Asia-Pacific where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 9.45% and 9.31% respectively.

The global retail market is fragmented, with large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 8.42% of the total market in 2023. Walmart Inc. was the largest competitor with a 2.48% share of the market, followed by Amazon.com Inc.with 1.50%, Costco Wholesale Corp. with 0.91%, Schwarz Group with 0.70%, The Home Depot Inc. with 0.59%, JD.com Inc. (JD) with 0.51%, Aldi (Albrecht-Diskont) with 0.50%, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. with 0.47%, Target Corp. (TGT) with 0.39% and Carrefour Group with 0.36%.

The retail market is segmented by type into motor vehicles and parts dealers, food and beverages stores, gasoline stations, miscellaneous store retailers, cosmetics and personal care stores, clothing and clothing accessories stores, electronics and appliance stores, furniture and home furnishing stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, convenience, mom and pop stores, department Stores and other general merchandise stores, ecommerce and other non-store retailers, building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, pharmacies and healthcare stores and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores. The motor vehicle and parts dealers market was the largest segment of the retail market segmented by type, accounting for 17.83% or $5.07 trillion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the ecommerce & other non-store retailers segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the retail market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 12.22% during 2024-2029.

The retail market is segmented by ownership into retail chain and independent stores. The retail chain market was the largest segment of the retail market segmented by ownership, accounting for 68.05% or $19.35 trillion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the retail chain segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the retail market segmented by ownership, at a CAGR of 9.18% during 2024-2029.

The retail market is segmented by distribution channel into supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, specialty stores, online and other distribution channels. The online market was the largest segment of the retail market segmented by distribution channel, accounting for 24.69% or $7.02 trillion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the online segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the retail market segmented by distribution channel, at a CAGR of 15.00% during 2024-2029.

The top opportunities in the retail markets segmented by type will arise in the ecommerce & other non-store retailers segment, which will gain $3.26 trillion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the retail markets segmented by ownership will arise in the retail chain segment, which will gain $10.67 trillion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the retail markets segmented by distribution channel will arise in the online segment, which will gain $7.09 trillion of global annual sales by 2029. The retail market size will gain the most in the USA at $2.92 trillion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the retail market include focus on Internet of Things (IoT)-integrated solutions to enable retailers to create personalized shopping experiences by tracking customer behavior in-store and online, focus on prioritizing the adoption of AI-powered solutions to deliver a personalized shopping experience, focus on strategic partnerships and collaborations to enter new markets or expand their presence geographically without significant infrastructure investments or operational risks, focus on prioritizing technological advancements like retail cloud solutions to elevate customer experience, streamline operations and enhance omnichannel retailing and focus on technologically innovative solutions, such as cloud-native retail software solution to enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experiences and streamline omnichannel retailing.

Player-adopted strategies in the retail market include focus on expanding business capabilities through partnership to expand operational capabilities, focus on expanding business capabilities through innovative features and focus on innovative product launch.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the retail companies to focus on iot-integrated retail solutions to enhance operational efficiency and customer engagement, focus on integrating ai for personalized in-store retail experiences, focus on retail cloud solutions to strengthen omnichannel capabilities and personalization, focus on cloud-based erp systems to improve core operations and reduce costs, focus on e-commerce and non-store retailers for business growth, focus on retail chain for business expansion, expand in emerging markets, focus on strategic partnerships to accelerate market expansion and innovation, focus on strategic pricing to enhance competitiveness, strengthening digital and promotional marketing efforts, focus on online retail for strong growth.