In a recent interview with Vietnam Investment Review, B&Company shed light on the dynamic shifts occurring in Vietnam’s retail market. The retail landscape in the country is currently witnessing a sharp contrast between the growth of domestic and international brands. You can refer to the content that B&Company provided in the interview below.

Domestic brands are showing more advantages among supermarkets and minimarts, which cover more widely in both urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, international players are taking lead in more modern channels, including convenience stores, shopping malls, hyper malls, and e-commerce; and are more prominent in big provinces

Local retail models like supermarkets and minimarts still largely aim for daily quick shop-and-go and are relevant to old lifestyle fashion especially in further-away areas, whereas global modern chains offer diverse convenient experiences, which are sought more in developed cities.

As modernisation is gradually expanding to every corner of the country, the exposure and demand for international chains will likely be raised, but by that time, those brands still have to face with several challenges, such as localisation, optimisation of operation costs, and logistics to establish in new local markets.

With the participation of Vietnamese players in shopping malls, it may lead to mixed competition and the ratio between local/global retailers may fluctuate without too many big waves. That is a long-run marathon requiring huge investments and resourceful capacities.

In this context, while Vietnam is making development of the private sector a massive focus, it is still too early to conclude about its practical impacts for Vietnamese businesses in general, let alone retailers in particular.

Firstly, we must wait for follow-up documents to instruct on the issue and, more importantly, to provide support policies, programmes, and tangible support or incentives which can create real boosters for the private sector.

Besides that, with small- and medium-sized enterprises making up around 98 per cent of private businesses, it might be hard to predict the impact they could bring to the retail structure, because modern trade retail is the arena of giant players, while general trade is fragmented and cannot be changed by small actions. All in all, close observations of the latest updates should be necessary to assess the effects.

Reference: Vietnam Investment Review (2025). Retail chains craft lofty goals for Vietnamese market <Assess>

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