VietNamNet Bridge - Besides brick-and-mortar drugstores, Vietnam also has online stores and smart stores which distribute drugs to clients.



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More drugstore chains join the market




More chains have been set up since the beginning of the year, while existing chains have expanded. These include the online drug store chain of Ku.Dos Pharmacy in HCMC, comprising 10 stores.

Customers can buy prescribed drugs or order healthcare products online with any store in the drugstore system. The payment is made via MoMo wallet, with no transaction fee.

Toan Dien Tien Phong Trade & Service, representing Pharos Indonesia, has 13 Century Healthcare shops at large shopping malls such as Sai Gon Center and Bitexco, and 11 drugstores in districts. 

The Vietnamese market is promising with increasingly high spending on drugs and healthcare services. However, difficulties are still ahead with Vietnam's medical expenditures being financed by government’s health insurance.

It is expected that the number of Century Healthcare shops will reach 200 in the next three years.

Vinfa, a brand belonging to Vingroup, on November 10 opened 11 drugstores at 11 Vinmarts in Hanoi. Vinmart is a retail chain also belonging to Vingroup.

Meanwhile, existing drugstore chains have been developing rapidly. Pharmacity, for example, has 100 stores in HCMC and plans to have 500 by 2020. Phano has 60 stores, Medicare 59, Guardian 49, Eco 9, Vistar 20, My Chau 8 and Sapharco 18.

In 2017, FPT Digital Retail, which specializes in distributing digital devices, has also jumped on the bandwagon by taking Long Chau drugstore chain and opening 11 more stores.

FPT hopes Long Chau chain can obtain 30 percent of market share and bring revenue of VND10 trillion, making up 40 percent of FPT’s revenue.

In 2017, The Gioi Di Dong, the largest mobile phone distributor, also joined the drug distribution market by acquiring Phuc An Khang drugstore chain.

Analysts say the Vietnamese market is promising with increasingly high spending on drugs and healthcare services. However, difficulties are still ahead with Vietnam's medical expenditures being financed by government’s health insurance.

In addition, it is not easy for retailers to find suitable premises to develop drugstore chains, though they have succeeded with many existing stores, they said.

According to BMI, Vietnam’s drug market is valued at $5.3 billion. Hospitals hold 70 percent of market share, which means only 30 percent, or $1.6 billion, is reserved for drug retailers. There are up to 57,000 drugstores.

A pharmacy expert in HCMC said that Vietnam is among the countries with the highest density of drugstores, while the ratio of professional pharmacists to people is among the lowest. This explains the low quality of consultancy services at drugstores.


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