Retail goods and services generated revenues of nearly 1.4 quadrillion VND (63 billion USD) in the first four months of 2018, a year-on-year rise of 9.85 percent.

Customers at a supermarket in Hanoi

Tourism recorded the strongest growth of 26.1 percent thanks to economic recovery, increasing tourism demand, and the increasing number of foreign tour packages in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Other groups saw a year-on-year increase ranging from 8 to 12.7 percent.

In April alone, the total sales of retail goods and services reached over 350.5 trillion VND (15.3 billion USD), up 1.7 percent against the previous month and 9.54 percent over the same period last year.

The total revenue from retail sales and services reached 3.93 quadrillion VND (174.85 billion USD) in 2017, surging 10.9 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In 2016, Vietnam was listed in the top 30 most lucrative emerging retail markets in the world for foreign investors in A.T. Kearney's Global Retail Development Index. 

The country’s retail market is expected to grow fast to meet surging demand for shopping and recreational activities from 2018 to 2021.

According to Savills Vietnam – the largest property consultancy in Vietnam, numerous international retailers plan to invest in the sector in Vietnam, including Thailand’s TCC group and Central Group, Singapore’s Mapple Tree and Kepple Land, Korean Lotte and Emart and Japanese Aeon and Takashimaya.

The participation of foreign investors will help enhance retail service quality via mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and cooperation between domestic and foreign retailers.

The market also has room for shopping malls, supermarkets and one-price shops using technology in operation and management.

Online shopping and non-cash payments will be among factors to change Vietnam’s retail market.

With an over-90 million population,  nearly 70 percent of whom are at working age, 34 percent living in urban areas and annual income per capita reaching 2,385 USD, Vietnam is considered to have huge room for retail growth.-VNA