Examine different ways retailers in Asia are providing value for shoppers.
Asian shoppers are increasingly scrutinising their grocery spend in recent years due to the cost of living crisis. Struggles with inflation will likely to continue towards end 2026 and early 2027, exacerbated by the impact of the Middle East conflict of supply chains.
Retailers across the region have been applying different strategies to target a more cost-conscious shopper base. We take a look at what some of these retailers are doing.
Expanding private label in China
Retailers in China have been increasing their private ranges to better its cost-conscious conscious shoppers. Walmart has been allocating more shelf space to its private label, Marketside, which focuses on categories such as fresh food.
Meanwhile, Yonghui is upgrading its product portfolio with plans to develop another 200 private label products during 2026, as part of its goal to push private label sales penetration above 20%. Its portfolio includes both Yonghui Customised products and the Quality Yonghui brand.
Improved shopper perception of private label has allowed retailers to create greater value by expanding their private label ranges.
Prize freezes on daily essentials
Right after the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, FairPrice Singapore began introducing price freezes on 100 daily essentials from April 2026 onwards, amidst concerns of rising supply chain costs driving up food inflation. Strong collaboration with suppliers has allowed the retailer to lock prices till end August 2026, and expand the range of daily essentials covered under the scheme to 500 items.
This has helped FairPrice to maintain affordability for its daily essentials, while ensuring shoppers feel secure about their grocery budgets being protected.
Gamification to offer members more rewards
South Korean convenience giant CU has added gamification options in its upgraded loyalty app. Shoppers can earn points by playing in-app games, which can then be redeemed for purchases at CU stores.
The app also has a pedometer, allowing users to accumulate points based on their step count. This ties in with the growing health-consciousness trend among shoppers in the market.
These gamification and rewards initiatives help the retailer to boost loyalty by providing value to members. This could in turn drive greater footfall to CU stores.
Launching a value-focused format
Lawson Japan launched its value-focused convenience banner, L Minimart, in mid-2026. The banner is positioned as a mini supermarket, offering a wider range of products, including fresh produce, as compared to its usual convenience banners. Products are also more competitively priced at supermarket pricing, which is often cheaper than convenience store pricing in Japan.
This format was likely launched to compete with Aeon’s My Basket banner, which has been growing due to its strengths in range and pricing. The launch of Lawson’s value-focused banner allows it to provide greater value to shoppers as well.
What can we learn
Conveying value to shoppers is something that mass market retailers need to constantly succeed in, if they are protect their shopper base and market share.
We can learn from these examples that there are multiple ways retailers can provide value for shoppers, ranging from private label, pricing and promotions, loyalty benefits and even creating new formats that can better target value shoppers. Retailers that best create a strong value perception among shoppers often employ these strategies consistently.