Retail sales continue double-digit growth
Retail sales continue double-digit growth
The local retail market saw the departure of many foreign retailers last year, but its sales still rose 12.7% over the 2018 figure to reach an estimated VND3.751 quadrillion (nearly US$162 billion), according to the General Statistics Office.
The sector has maintained a growth rate of over 10% over the past four years, with last year’s figure being the highest.
In 2018, the country’s retail sales reached US$142.8 billion, up 12.4% year-on-year. In 2017, this figure totaled almost US$130 billion, an increase of 10.9% from the previous year. In 2016, the total revenue of this market inched up 10.2% against the 2015 result to some US$118 billion.
Based on last year’s sales performance, this market is expected to obtain further robust growth and is considered to have great potential for foreign retailers, as many foreign retail markets in recent years have become saturated or shown signs of decline.
According to experts in the field, the local retail market has sufficient room for stronger development, buoyed by a population of almost 100 million people, improved incomes and an increasingly stable economy. If this upward trend continues, retail sales in Vietnam could reach US$200 billion in the next two years.
Accordingly, the experts attributed the withdrawal of certain foreign retailers, such as the convenience store chain Shop&Go and the French supermarket chain Auchan, from the local market in 2019 to their inappropriate business models. Investors in these chains might not have made the right adjustments to cope with the rapidly changing consumer demand, stated the experts.
