...In non-food retail, business model issues will likely be reflected in sluggish sales growth and profit margin progression. Online retailers and innovative marketplace platforms continue to disrupt the traditional bricks-and-mortar retail model, with cautious, price-sensitive consumers, and fast- evolving shopping patterns, dictating winners and losers in the sector. Moreover, distribution and delivery challenges, solutions and other ancillary costs are now becoming more significant factors from a credit perspective. On the other hand, the food retail sector will remain stable, with companies adapting their businesses to changing consumer preferences (a bigger fresh & organic assortment, and proximity stores). The lag of online penetration compared to the rest of the retail sector has given food retailers more time to adapt their omnichannel capabilities....
