According to the Global Power of Retailing 2018 by Deloitte, retailers of hardlines and leisure goods recorded a strong growth since 2010 when the economy emerged from the global economic crisis.
The positive sector performance also includes e-commerce, a channel that is growing very fast, as underlined by Deloitte: “Tremendously strong growth of e-commerce giants Amazon.com and JD.com – it is specified in the report – gave the group’s top-line composite a big boost, which helped offset retail revenue declines among 13 of the sector’s 51 companies. At the same time, the two e-retailers dragged down the sector’s overall profitability.”
But also merger & acquisition operations influenced the sector trend, as the merger of Group FNAC and Darty plc to form France’s largest electronics retailer. In May 2016, then, Lowe’s
acquired Canadian home improvement retailer RONA. Steinhoff International acquired US-based Mattress Firm, marking its first foray into the Americas in 2016. Staples sold its UK retail store business to London-based Hilco Capital in November 201671 and its remaining European stores to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in February 2017,72 classifying the international stores as discontinued operations in FY2016.
