Vietnam 's retail market is changing extensively,becoming more modern and integrated. In the first ten months of 2014,total retail sales nationwide reached nearly 2,400,480 billion VND, up11.1 percent compared to the same period of 2013.
Total retail sales of goods and services for 2014 are projected to reach 2,970 trillion VND, up 11.3 percent compared to 2013.
Accordingto the Vietnam Retailers Association, as of 2013, Vietnam had about724 supermarkets, 132 commercial centres, a few hundred conveniencestores, nearly 9,000 markets of various kinds and about 1 million familystores.
By 2020, the country is expected to have about1,200-1,300 supermarkets, 180 trade centres and 157 shopping centres.Currently, this type of distribution is claiming about 25 percent of theVietnam distribution market.
According to Nguyen Tien Vuong,Deputy General Director of Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro), in recentyears, businesses have started to conduct more drastic measures torenovate, construct and expand trade infrastructure systems in the cityas well as some northern provinces . So far, Hapro has had 2 HAPROShopping Centres, 3 Market Centres, 40 supermarkets and HaproMartconvenient stores, 44 Haprofood shops selling guaranteed products andother specialised store systems.
According to Le Viet Nga, DeputyDirector of the Department of the Domestic Market (Ministry of Industryand Trade), local enterprises have recently expanded distributionchannels in order to get closer to consumers across the country. Anotable example was Vinatex with the chain retail supermarketsVinatexmart. Besides Vinatexmart, the member units of the group such asViet Tien, Garment 10, Duc Giang, Hanosimex and Phong Phu also activelyopened stores and dealers to introduce products into all provinces andcities across the country. As of 2013, there had been 4,125 stores (a 4percent increase compared to 2012). In 2014, this figure is expected toreach 4,286 stores.
Sharing experiences doing business in Hanoi ,Dang Thuy Ha, Customer Director of Nielsen Vietnam in the northernregion, said the retail sector was ushering in a new era. Shoppingtrends in the digital era tended to steer toward e-commerce with moderntechnology. Vietnamese retailers should focus on category management andservices such as loyal customer cards to catch up with the developmenttrend of regional modern sales channels.
According to the VietnamRetailers Association, although foreign investors in the retail sectoraccount for only 3.4 percent of the businesses involved in this sector,they have gained the strongest growth rate, reaching over 21 percent.The competition between domestic and foreign enterprises has beengetting fierce, but it does not mean that domestic firms are losingtheir “home ground” or falling into a passive situation.
Chairpersonof the Vietnam Retailers Association Dinh Thi My Loan was quoted assaying that foreign firms getting into Vietnam 's retail market areoften widely advertised, so people think that they have a strongpresence. In fact, however, modern retail channels account for about 25percent only and almost all foreign retailers are investing into thesechannels alone.
Some local strong retailers indicated by Loaninclude Pico, Nguyen Kim, Tran Anh. Reputable networks of localbusinesses such as Fivimart, Intimex and Coopmart also have moreadvantages than foreign competitors.
According to DavidAlan Treadgold, Member of the Advisory Council of Oxford Institute ofRetail Management, Vietnamese businesses should prepare themselves fullyin terms of technology, human resources and management to cut costs andimprove competitiveness.-VNA