A recent business trip to Myanmar gave us the opportunity to have an insider view of the Myanmar retail market. And we have been impressed. Before our trip, we were assuming that the current economic embargo and political situation's effects would have prevented any kind of modern retailing activties to florish.

Our assumptions were wrong.

We worked with the Store management Teams of City Mart, Ocean, Orange Supermarkets and Jumbo supermarkets, and we have been impressed by:

• the assortment in stores (despite the fact that vendor management is almost impossible to setup, we counted around 20 to 25,000 skus by store)
• the quality of store layout, displays and planograms
• Stores in Yangoon are full after 5:00 pm
• the Team's expertise
• the teams' strong will to learn and improve
• Services such as phone ordering or on-line shopping are already available...and working!

Most of the products available are coming for border trade, and stiil, choice is a reality in Myanamar shelves.

Traditional trade remains prevalent, and many distributors do an outstanding job, against all odds and for all trade channels, by bringing in and supporting brands and consumer goods. DKSH Myanmar is one of them.

The setup of the new capital, and the progressive relaxation of economic constraints are, according to certain manufacturers, going to make of Myanmar one of the strongest market in the region within the coming 10 years!