China’s largest convenience store chain makes foray in Vietnam

China’s largest convenience store chain makes foray in Vietnam

China’s convenience store giant Meiyijia has opened its first outlets in the Vietnamese market in a push to expand its presence in Southeast Asia.

As reported by Inside Retail on May 5, Meiyijia operates in Vietnam under a new overseas brand, Ohmee. The initial rollout includes three stores already operating in the capital, Hanoi, marking Meiyijia’s first retail presence outside China.

Ohmee covenience stores will expand in Vietnam through the franchising model, which has facilitated Meiyijia to scale up its network to tens of thousands of outlets in China.

Beside Vietnam, Ohmee convenience stores are also opened in Malaysia as part of Meiyijia's push into the Southeast Asian market.

Founded in 1997 as a retail arm of a state-owned trading company, Meiyijia began its rapid expansion in the mid-2010s. It crossed 20,000 stores in 2020 – and doubled that number in less than five years.

Last July, Meiyijia marked the opening of its 40,000th store. The vast majority of these outlets are concentrated in China’s industrialised southern and eastern provinces.

According to Momentum Works, for more than 20 years after its founding, Meiyijia was a regional player. Then digitisation across store ops, supply chain, and franchise systems unlocked a doubling that few global retailers have matched at this scale.

Now it's testing whether that operating model travels. Vietnam and Malaysia, Meiyijia’s first overseas destinations, differ significantly in retail structure, income levels, and urban form.

Local incumbents also hold deep advantages – from government relationships to the practical realities of securing retail locations.

According to Vietdata, Vietnam's convenience store market is entering a structural recalibration phase characterised by a clear “flight to quality.”

Market leaders are not only preserving their scale advantages but are further widening the gap through operational efficiency optimisation and enhanced customer experience. As a result, market concentration remains elevated, with over 72 per cent of total revenue controlled by the top three players, namely Circle K, GS25, and FamilyMart.

VIR