VietNamNet Bridge – It is estimated that 1.5 million Vietnamese people can afford branded expensive goods. However, the figure is not big enough to put Vietnam on the map of the world’s branded goods markets.

It is true that the sales in Vietnam can bring just a small proportion of the total revenue of the well-known fashion brands in the world. However, it is reasonable to say that the Vietnamese branded goods market is seething.

Market gets scorching hot

No one could imagine some 10 years ago that even Hermes and the handbags worth billions of dong would be sold well in Vietnam one day.

Ralf Matthaes, Managing Director of Taylor Nelson, a market survey firm, said that about 1.5 million Vietnamese people can afford expensive luxurious products.

A market survey conducted by the firm showed that 52 percent of Vietnamese men use luxurious goods, 36 percent of the amount lives in Hanoi, 10 percent in HCM City. The Vietnamese people who spend money on luxurious goods are the ones at the ages of 35-54, and all of them have the monthly income of at least 8.5 million dong.

Meanwhile, commenting about the luxurious goods market in Vietnam, Sabyasachi Mishra, General Director of JWT Vietnam, said the market is now in the first phase of development.

Y&R Vietnam has found out from its survey conducted on the people aged from 20 to 65 in four big cities in Vietnam that 14 percent of them once buy luxurious goods.

The figure shows the small scale of the Vietnamese market in comparison with other regional markets. However, Vietnam has great potentials for the branded goods market development thanks to the high percentage of young population.

The report of the firm showed that the Vietnamese people aged 18-35 believe that living means tasting and experiencing new things, and 64 percent of them think that using luxurious goods is the way to tasting new things.

At present, only one percent of population is affordable luxurious goods. However, the figure is expected to increase rapidly with the appearance of the middle class consumers. Statistics showed that the Vietnamese average income per capita increased by two folds in the last five years.

The reports by government agencies all showed the increasingly high volume of luxurious imports. Vietnam imported 10 billion dollars worth of luxurious goods in 2012, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, while more and more shops distributing branded goods have been set up in big cities.

As such, Vietnam has appeared in the world of luxurious goods as a potential market, not a market with high consumption level. This is also the reason whey Hermes, a French brand which tops the list of 10 fashion brands in the world, has just opened its second shop at VIncom Center A in HCM City which has the floor area of 240 square meters.

Hermes opened the second shop in Vietnam after witnessing the success made by its first shop in Hanoi, which was inaugurated in 2008 and has been obtaining the average growth rate of 20-30 percent per annum.

Vincom Center A is the fifth shopping mall of the chain bearing Vincom Center brand. The opening of the shopping mall is a component of Vingroup plan to develop one million square meters of retail premises by 2015.

Vincom Center A has nearly fully occupied with the presence of the world’s leading brands such as Hermes, Christian Dior, Hugo Boss, Chopard, Versace, Ralph Lauren, Zegna, Omega, IWC, Montblanc...

A similar proportion has been reported for Vincom Center Ba Trieu, Vincom Center Long Bien in Hanoi and Vincom Center B in HCM City.

DNSG