Just over 8 million people inhabit Israel, which is roughly the size of tiny Wales. Embroiled in the conflicts of the Middle East, it is threatened by malicious trade boycotts. The population has major ethnic divides – Jewish or not, ultra orthodox or otherwise, etc. And for all that, Israel has an extremely sophisticated retail, which is developing further.

It is not just that the Israel has attained a reputation for creating new apps for shops. It is not even the ever-increasing numbers of international retailers, such as GAP and American Eagle, who are looking to exploit the purchasing power of Israelis.

Over the past week, the Hebrew financial newspaper “The Calcalist”, (Economist in English) has detailed a series of reports on the Israeli retail sector. It is far more sophisticated than many might have imagined.

First up is the corner coffee shop. Walk down a street in Israel and you will several people ‘slurping and noshing’ on the move. There are twelve leading chains in this sector with an estimated 610 outlets between them. The largest is “Café Café” with 134 branches, and they are gradually buying up smaller groups with 4-5 shops.

Closely related are the manufacturers of soft drinks, whose ‘healthy” carbohydrated-sugar-filled liquids are to be found in even the smallest shop. The dominant player is the local manufacturer of Coca Cola, whose sales grew in 2013 by nearly 3% and topped 700 million nis (around US$400 million). Roughly speaking, the next six labels in the table when added together reached the level of Cola.

When it comes to chemists, Superpharm makes sure that it is number one in Israel. It currently has 195 branches, with another 30 due to open in the next 24 months; a phenomenal growth spurt. (And this is on top of a further 50 shops in Poland). Sales in 2013 will come in around 225 billion shekels, of which 20% has been generated from products from their own brand, “Life”.

And finally, possibly with no surprise in a country with two socio-economic groups famous for large families, (Arabs and ultra orthodox Jews), kids clothing is an important sector in the Israeli high street. A mere seven major players operate over 520 outlets, accounting for 51% of the markets. The smallest of these is KedKids with 5%. However, they have just announced plans to up their floor space by 50% by 2017.

Whether buying at boutique shops in the centre of town or large shopping malls, the Israeli consumer of all backgrounds has proved that it is a very sophisticated creature. The owners of the retail chains, local and from overseas, have shown that this is not a phenomenon to be taken lightly.