Vietnam has been singled out by major Asian retailers planning expansion in the region, as sales stagnate in Japan and South Korea.
FamilyMart, which operates four convenience stores in Ho Chi Minh City, plans to boost that number to 300 within five years, and potentially develop outlets in Hanoi, Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun reported.
“The convenience store has just started as a business format here,” said the head of FamilyMart’s Vietnam operations Junichi Yamashita. He told the newspaper there was room for growth in the country where small, privately run stores account for 80 per cent of retail sales.
South Korean conglomerate Lotte, which operates two Lotte Mart supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City, plans to open more than 30 supermarkets in Vietnam by 2018, and a department store in Hanoi, the newspaper reported.
“This is a market where Wal-Mart and Carrefour have not yet arrived,” a senior official at Lotte’s Vietnamese arm told the newspaper. “We would like to market the Lotte name before they arrive.”
