The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many countries around the world to suffer from serious shortages of food and necessities, but the recent conflict in Ukraine has put developed countries in difficult situations when supply is cut off. However, Vietnam's retail industry is an exception and has recovered dramatically in the first months of the year.
The General Statistics Office has informed that the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in July 2022 was estimated at VND 486 trillion. This figure increased by 2.4% over the previous month and by 42.6% over the same period last year, reaching a larger scale and higher growth rate compared to that in the pre-pandemic period.
For the first 7 months of 2022, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services was estimated at VND 3,205.8 trillion, which increased by 16% compared to the same period last year. If excluding the price factor, it would increase by 11.9%.
Specifically, retail sales of goods in the first seven months of 2022 was estimated at VND 2,556 trillion, up 13.7% over the same period last year.
Retail sales of food and garment products, which account for a large proportion of the retail and service sectors, achieved impressive growth. However, this growth is mainly due to the high price of input materials and the increased buying sentiment of distributors and retailers before prices continue to escalate.
Revenue from accommodation and food services in the first 7 months of 2022 was estimated at VND 324.9 trillion, up 37.5% over the same period last year due to the high demand for entertainment and tourism of the people in summer after 2 years of restricting. Revenue from travel revenue in the first 7 months of 2022 was estimated at VND 11.9 trillion, 2.7 times higher than the same period last year due to the strong recovery of tourism activities, especially domestic tourism.
From the end of 2021, thanks to the coverage of the Covid-19 vaccine and economic stimulus policies, Vietnam has gradually controlled the epidemic. Consumer demand has become the driving force for growth.
By the end of 2021, 46.7% of sellers believed that the retail market would recover while 14.5% of sellers expected to witness strong growth next year.
In 2022, the most obvious trend in the retail market is predicted to be digital transformation, diversifying sales channels, promoting online business in addition to optimizing traditional sales channels. Businesses that have invested in and built an effective online platform with flexible access to e-commerce will benefit from the omni-channel trend. It has been proven that businesses and stores who were digitally transformed have quickly adapted and evolved during the past two years.
The second trend is that modern department stores will benefit from the post-pandemic shift in consumption. While retail stores of non-essential products were hit hard in the third quarter of 2021, distribution and retail businesses of consumer goods and essentials were less affected by social distancing. This year, the trend of modernizing the traditional sales channel will soon come into practice.
The third trend is the retail strategy that puts individual customers first. As technology plays an important role in the modern retail experience, social distancing and epidemics make the distance between buyers and sellers further apart, the power of human connection will be effective. Retailers that optimize the experience for customer retention and apply multiple sales process metrics will have a better edge to dominate the market.
Source: GSO, vtnnews
Compiled by VietnamCredit
