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Sheng Siong Supermarket is now the third-largest retailer by sales volume in Singapore, according to an Asia-Pacific survey by Euromonitor International.
It said Sheng Siong, which prides itself on having 'lower prices, shorter queues, fresh food and excellent service', turned over $496 million last year, up 57 per cent from $315 million in 2006.
The sales surge lifted the supermarket five spots from No.8 among Singapore's 10 largest retailers the year before.
Like in last year's report, the top two were grocery giants Dairy Farm International Holdings, which runs Cold Storage and 7-Eleven, and runner-up NTUC FairPrice Co-operative.
Euromonitor said hypermarkets in the Republic registered turnover growth of 137 per cent between 2002 and last year, and are forecast to grow a further 41 per cent by 2012.
Department stores Takashimaya, Mustafa, Isetan and the Robinson group, as well as retailers Courts, Harvey Norman and Best Denki round up the Top 10.
Euromonitor's survey of 14 countries in the region found that Singapore, despite its size, boasts stronger retailers than its larger regional neighbours.
Singapore had 18 retailers in Euromonitor's Top 500, outranking Indonesia and Malaysia - each with 15 - the Philippines with 10 and Vietnam, four.
Top spot went to Japan, which controls 120 major retailers, followed by China and Australia.
Even in terms of total turnover, Singapore stores are comparable to those in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Euromonitor said that last year's turnover for Singapore's 18 largest retailers, which also include department stores Tangs and OG, was US$4.6 billion (S$6.3 billion), up 11.3 per cent from US$4.1 billion in 2006.
The figure is almost on a par with the US$4.8 billion of total retail sales from the 15 largest operators in both Malaysia and Indonesia last year.
Total sales for the Asia-Pacific's top 500 retailers grew almost 10 per cent to US$637 billion last year, from US$581 billion the year before.
But Euromonitor research head Loo Geok Leng warned that 'the going will get tougher' this year with inflation pushing up costs, while 'spending will become increasingly discretionary' among shoppers.
