According to Colliers International's Vietnam Research Division, the number of medium and high-end consumers will increase by 1.7 times by 2020 and rapidly increases in many major cities,which makes Vietnam a very attractive market for foreign brands
According to Colliers International's Vietnam Research Division, the number of medium and high-end consumers will increase by 1.7 times by 2020 and rapidly increases in many major cities, which makes Vietnam a very attractive market for foreign brands.
Vietnam is currently a fast-growing market and consumers are more likely to accept new products, which is why more and more Korean, Japanese and European brands have flocked to the country to seek for opportunities.
A number of well-known brands in the world like H & M, Zara, 7-Eleven, Walmart, Ikea, Forever 21 have "massively penetrated" this attractive market. Specifically, in October, 2017, a group of food and beverage companies from Jeju (Korea) had a trade show in HCM City to find ways to bring their products to Vietnam via Vietnamese distributors/agencies.
Along with the “newbies”, the foreign retailers who are currently operating in Vietnam have also refreshed themselves and penetrated deeper into the Vietnamese market.
For example, in September 2017, B2S Stationery Center (B2S) of the Central Group (Thailand) was put into operation, focusing on student products. With this new retail brand, Central Group Vietnam plans to open about 30 centers in Vietnam in the next five years, and B2S businesses will be located in the city centers.
Moreover, foreign retailers are boosting technology-based businesses. Central Goup, after acquiring 49% stake of Nguyen Kim, has bought Big C Vietnam and Zalora Vietnam's online business from Rocket Internet (Germany) to boost its online business in the field of fashion. This strategy also aims at combining online and on-site sales in retail sector that the group has been investing in recent years.
Miyake Junya, founder of Miniso (Japan) said “Vietnam market has held a strategic position both regionally and globally and is considered as a bridge connecting foreign manufacturers and Southeast Asia market”. Currently in Vietnam, there have been many Miniso stores (in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City).
According to experts in the retail sector, the share of foreign investors now accounts for 50% of the modern retail channel and is on a rising trend.