Hano​i (VNA) – Vietnam has returned to sixth place among the 30most-attractive retail markets in the world this year according by A.T. Kearney, thanks to theexpansion of convenience stores and mini-marts and the increase in use oftechnology in the industry.

Thecountry is attractive to retailers, with a market of more than 93 millionpeople, relatively young population and an estimated GDP of 220 billion USD.

Vietnamhas been named on the list by US global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney since 2008.According to the firm’s latest Global Retail Development Index (GRDI),convenience stores and mini-marts are the fastest-growing segment in thecountry.

CircleK and FamilyMart entered Vietnam in 2009 and are expanding rapidly. FamilyMartnow has about 100 stores across the country and plans to have more than 800stores by 2020.

Japaneseretailer 7-Eleven also plans to open its first Vietnamese store in 2018 in afranchise agreement with Seven System Vietnam and a total of 1,000 stores areplanned in the next decade. Vinmart opened approximately 1,000 stores lastyear and is set to increase that number by about 1,500 by the end of this year.

Butthese stores are under pressure from supermarkets in terms of shoppingexperience and product diversity and from  conventional channels in convenience.

Vietnamhas seen a strong rise of modern retailing channels that posted growth of 7.7percent from April 2016 to March 2017, compared to 6.1 percent of traditionalchannels. Despite that, modern channels only accounted for 25 percent of totalretailing revenue.

Technologyhas lent a helping hand to modern retailing, making it more convenient byproviding new payment tools, improved online shopping experience andmultichannel marketing.

TheGioi Di Dong (Mobile World), one of Vietnam’s top 10 retailers in 2017, hasspent 13 years developing its own integrated technology-based management systemthat supports different aspects of administrations, from sales, inventory,financial report, to salary payment, customer database and human resources. Itis how the group manages its 1,500 stores and more than 31,000 workers.

Butnot every retailer is ready to invest in technology, and technological trends oftenswitch before they can catch up, according to Nguyen Thi Tong, Chief ofSecretary Group, Association of Vietnam Retailers.-VNA