TAIWAN – A recent ACNielsen report suggests that competition for market share is heating up in the Asia-Pacific region thanks to the continued growth of hypermarkets and convenience stores.

The ACNielsen “Shopper Trends” report on the Asia-Pacific region reveals that Taiwan, with a population of about 23 million, is number one in the country with the highest density of convenience stores and ranked second for hypermarkets.

The Taipei Times notes that each convenience store in Taiwan serves about 2,600 people, while each hypermarket serves about 212,264 people.

Among the Asia-Pacific countries, Hong Kong and Singapore are the most developed markets, while South Korea, China and Japan are the most fragmented. Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia are “dominated by hypermarkets,” while the developing markets of Indonesia, the Philippines and India are quickly catching up, notes the newspaper.

Noted as the “fast-emerging sector,” Taiwan and Thailand consumers frequent convenience stores more than any other retail format and are likely to visit a convenience store three or four times per week, which is higher than the in-store frequency rate in Japan. Growth in hypermarket and convenience stores is also putting pressure on supermarkets, where shopper frequency has been declining.

“To survive, supermarkets will need to effectively differentiate themselves as they struggle to compete with hypermarkets on prices and product range and with convenience stores in terms of location,” Oliver Rust, an executive director at ACNielsen Taiwan's retail measurement services, told the newspaper.