“The global economy is currently at a turning point,” said Deloitte Global chief economist Ira Kalish. “Until early 2018, it displayed strong growth. With inflation accelerating in major markets, governments making shifts in monetary and fiscal policies and most emerging markets experiencing significant currency depreciation, the global economy will slow down in the near future.

“For retailers, this will mean slower consumer-spending growth, higher consumer prices and disrupted global supply chains.”

In Southeast Asia, retail growth is likely to continue to be driven by the consumer’s ever-growing demand for convenience.

“Among the top 50 fastest-growing retailers, convenience-store operators accounted for the top three Southeast Asian players,” said Deloitte Southeast Asia consumer industry leader Eugene Ho.

“Across markets such as Indonesia and Thailand, we are witnessing the aggressive expansion of convenience-store chains. With their closer proximity to consumers and longer operating hours, they’re driving a marked shift in the overall consumer preference towards modern trade channels – and away from traditional trade channels, such as ‘mom and pop stores’, street hawkers and wet markets, that were previously the dominant channels.”