Following Thai, Japanese and South Korean retailers flocking to Vietnam, Chinese investors are now jumping into the market.
Miniso has been mentioned repeatedly in local newspapers. The retailer has announced its official presence in Vietnam through a franchise contract signed with Le Bao Minh Group.
In April, Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce group, spent $1 billion to obtain the right to control Lazada, a well-known e-commerce website.
Analysts commented that with the investment from Alibaba, Lazada Vietnam would have more opportunities to develop because it would be able to spend more money on advert campaigns and increase goods supply from China.
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According to the US Securities And Exchange Commission, Alibaba has outstripped Walmart to become the world’s largest retailer. Its online transaction value accounts for 10 percent of retail transactions in China.
According to Vu Vinh Phu, chair of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, the Vietnamese consumer market is attractive to foreign retailers, as retail turnover was $100 billion last year.
Vietnam has a large population (over 91 million people), of which 60 percent are young consumers, per capita income at $1,890 in 2015, fast pace of urbanization, and growing middle class.
Phu noted that retailers now pay special attention to the rural market which is large and unexploited. Online sales have become a growing tendency, which gives goods suppliers opportunities to approach consumers more easily.
Le Phung Hao, chair of the Vietnam Marketing Association, anticipated that more Chinese goods would be brought to Vietnam thanks to the presence of retail groups from China.
Instead of dealing with low-quality and smuggled goods flown from remote areas, Vietnam will have to compete with Chinese goods available at luxury shops in large cities.
(Source: Vietnamnet)