Hypermarkets lose ground to online shopping as share falls below 8%

Hypermarkets and corporate supermarkets, known as SSMs, saw sales shrink in the first half of this year as online shopping platforms continued to eat into their business. Hypermarkets were particularly hard hit, with their share of total retail sales falling below 8 percent in June.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's retail sales trend report for the first half of 2026 and June, hypermarket sales fell 10.5 percent in June compared with the same period last year. SSM sales dropped 10.8 percent over the same period. Hypermarkets have now posted declines for four consecutive months, while SSMs have fallen for seven straight months.

For the first half as a whole, hypermarket sales were down 7.3 percent year on year, while SSM sales declined 6.6 percent. Hypermarkets have now recorded negative growth for nine consecutive quarters and SSMs for four. Both channels have been dragged down by persistent weakness in food products, their core category.

As a result, hypermarkets' share of total major retail sales shrank to 7.5 percent in June and 8.5 percent for the first half. SSMs' share was limited to 1.9 percent in June. Online retail accounted for 60.4 percent of sales in June and 59.6 percent for the first half.

Online retail continued to gain ground, growing 8.1 percent in the first half as it solidified its position as the go-to channel for grocery shopping. Department stores posted strong growth of 20.1 percent, while convenience stores saw sales rise 3.7 percent, buoyed by a base effect from last year's contraction and an early onset of summer heat.