Vietnam’s retail market has seen the participation of big foreign names like Thailand’s Central Group and Japanese AEON, Takashimaya, 7-Eleven and FujiMart, however, the number of Vietnamese products sold at all these supermarkets still remain modest.
One out of ten Vietnamese suppliers have their goods showcased at the foreign supermarkets’ shelves due to the heat of pricing pressure and high discount rate requested by the distributors, retail sale expert Vu Vinh Phu said.
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| Inside Aeon Mall Long Bien, Hanoi. Photo: news.zing.vn |
According to Vice Director of the Hanoi Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, many Vietnamese firms fail to provide goods that fit quality requirements of the distributors.
Describing capital limitations as one of the main challenges for Vietnamese businesses, Anh said that even those who satisfy requests of the modern retail system, they are likely to lose right in their home playground.
“Foreign retailers prefer the “sell-now, pay-later” norm of trade, and domestic suppliers have to wait three or four weeks or even more than three months to get revenue,” she added.
She said that local firms should study consumers’ taste and market’s change as well. They should invest heavily in advanced technologies to save costs, and pay more attention to product design as well as food safety and hygiene.
As part of efforts to bolster export to foreign distribution channels, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is implementing the “Developing Direct Participation of Vietnamese Enterprises on Foreign Distribution System up to 2020” programme, in which training courses to improve competitive capacity of the local firms will be held.
