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E-mart Go Vap (Source: baodautu.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s retail market has been stirred up recently by two huge deals that confirm the appeal the 100-million-strong market holds. On May 19, E-mart , the largest retailer in the Republic of Korea (RoK), announced that it will sell its retail store business in Vietnam to local firm the Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO). The move marks the Korean retailer's withdrawal from Vietnam after nearly seven years. The number of RoK products sold in E-mart outlets in Vietnam rose from 170 in the year it came to Vietnam to 1,200 by 2020. The E-mart deal comes after a 400 million USD investment from Chinese giant Alibaba in The CrownX , a company owned by the Masan Group Corporation, to operate the VinMart supermarket chain. The deal is one of the largest by Alibaba in Southeast Asia since it bought Lazada in 2018 for 4 billion USD. It will allow Alibaba and Lazada to access a network of more than 2,000 outlets without having to spend time and money establishing a distribution network. Consumers will also see products sold in VinMart available on Lazada and can pick up orders from Lazada at VinMart. This is a perfect combination between the two giants in the omni-channel retail trend, according to e-commerce expert Nguyen Huy. Lazada has acquired a handsome share of Vietnam’s e-commerce market and this deal is expected to help Alibaba speed up its online-to-offline (O2O) scheme in the country. The leader of one small domestic supermarket said that that since Lazada entered Vietnam, foreign traders have penetrated more deeply into the market through trans-border trading activities, which pose difficulties for domestic production. Merger and acquisition (M&A) experts said that after a period of relative silence, Vietnam’s retail market has entered a new stage of competition that is much fiercer than previously. M&A deals are forecast to continue to rise in the time to come. The market has …

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The Covid-19 pandemic is fostering cashless payment, making it more popular in Vietnam. Instead of having to get up early in the morning every day to go to a nearby market, Nguyen Thu Hang from Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, can stay in bed a bit longer while still being able to buy stuff online via mobile apps. Non-cash payment has become an irreversible trend in Vietnam. Photo: Viet Linh “Given the current serious pandemic situation, I have been using online grocery shopping services for the past three months,” Thuy told The Hanoi Times . In addition to the convenience that online shopping can bring, Nguyen Thi Hai Yen (Tay Ho District, Hanoi) said sales programs offered by online shopping apps are of major attraction. “For the same foodstuffs or things that you normally buy in supermarkets, using online shopping services such as Now, Grab or Baemin can help you save VND50,000-70,000 (US$2.18-3.5), or even more on special occasions. Not a big saving but accumulated in a month, it would be a considerable amount,” Yen explained to The Hanoi Times . There is no denying that online shopping has made it easier for people to shop, but this kind of shopping has become popular in recent years, especially during the Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam. Yen and Thuy are among many customers who have changed their habits from offline shopping to online shopping in the country. The most important thing is that they can check the quality and fabric of the product. Since 2019, the Vietnamese Government has chosen June 16 as Cashless Day in a bid to raise public awareness about the benefits of non-cashless payment methods. Three years on, cashless payment has been increasingly seen as irreversible among Vietnamese consumers, and its popularity further increases in the current Covid-19 pandemic. A series of events and activities will be held virtually on Cashless Day 2021 (from June 14 to August 30), including a rap competition …

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A Phuc Long Kiosk is set up at a Vinmart store in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: MSN) Hanoi (VNA) – The Sherpa Company Limited, a subsidiary of Masan Group Corporation , has acquired a 20-percent stake in Phuc Long Heritage JSC, which owns one of the leading tea and coffee brands in Vietnam – Phuc Long, for 15 million USD, according to an announcement. VinCommerce Truong Cong Thang, for his part, said: “With the goal of serving daily essential products that meet ‘The Very Best of Fresh’ standards, we believe that each VinMart store will transform into a symbol of modern lifestyle, a destination for all ages, from youths to housewives, across Vietnam.” VNA …

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