German hypermarket giant Kaufland is set to commence its tilt at the Australian retail scene.

The Schwarz Group-owned chain was the focus of Inside Retail’s last poll and the results indicate our readers think the likes of Coles, Woolworths, Metcash and Kaufland’s arch rival overseas, Aldi, will indeed be tested by the new entrant.

Australia’s only home grown hypermarket experience was with Super Kmarts which were developed but subsequently abandoned by Coles Myer.

Costco has opened nine destination stores across Australia since it launched in 2009 and has damaged market share, sales and profitability growth in the supermarket and discount department store sector.

While Kaufland’s success in Eastern Europe has been largely based on fewer players competing within its unique hypermarket discounter category blend, the Australian market hasn’t fully gone down the hypermarket path – as yet.

The Schwarz Group has provided an initial $43 million to its local subsidiary, Kaufland Australia, and has registered trademarks and bought a prime retail site in Adelaide that is expected to launch the German chain’s first Australian store.

The Schwarz Group is owned and controlled by Dieter Schwarz and has more than 1200 Kaufland hypermarkets in Europe, half of which are in Germany.

The Amazon effect…

With Amazon’s impending local launch gathering pace, after the e-commerce giant confirmed its first Aussie fulfilment centre and has already signed deals with over 500 SMEs plus a partnership with Myer to stock its Kindle products, we want to know what our readers think the all mighty US retailer’s impact will be on the Australian retail scene.

Have your say in our latest poll below: