Provinces and cities are gearing up for the coming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday to ensure an adequate supply of essential goods with the COVID-19 pandemic still developing globally.

Their network expansion strategy in normal conditions offers great advantages to retailers, but it has put a burden on them during the Covid-19 crisis.

Many M&A deals in the retail market were made in 2019, but unlike previous years, Vietnamese groups ‘conducted the choir’.

Though many suburban shopping centers were handed over three to five years ago, they remain deserted. Tens of thousands of square meters of commercial premises have been left idle.

On December 18, Vingroup announced its withdrawal from the retail sector. Adayroi, the e-commerce website, will merge with inID, while VinPro, the home alliance distribution brand, will be dissolved.

Opening laptop centers is one of the plans implemented by mobile phone retailers to restructure their business as their core field no longer brings satisfactory profit.

Foreign retailers, from Metro, Auchan, Casino Group to Parkson, have had to leave Vietnam because they did not understand the market well.

It is becoming more and more difficult for manufacturers and suppliers to distribute their products via supermarkets.

Foreign retailers started coming to Vietnam 20 years ago but many of them have had to leave.

By buying rivals and expanding networks, Vietnamese retailers are dominating the domestic retail market.

Contrary to all predictions, Vietnamese retailers are competing on an even footing with foreign counterparts in the domestic market.

The retailer community last week was stirred up by the news that a Vietnamese enterprise had acquired a famous foreign retail brand just after one month of negotiations.

It is still unclear who will take over the Auchan chain in Vietnam, though the announcement about the departure was made many days ago.

Once putting high hopes on the Vietnamese retail market, described as very promising with 90 million consumers, many retailers have had to leave the country.

VietNamNet Bridge - With the CPTPP, which removes all market access barriers in the retail sector, Vietnam expects to see an influx of foreign retailers. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Many retailers have reported losses, but they are continuing to pour more money into Vietnam to expand their networks.

VietNamNet Bridge - As a fast developing retail market in Asia, Vietnam has attracted many foreign retail giants in recent years. However, Vietnamese retailers still control 75 percent of market share.

VietNamNet Bridge - Parkson recently shut down its shopping center at Cantavil An Phu in district 2, HCM City. To date, the big retailer from Malaysia has closed five malls in Vietnam.

Experts have voiced their concern about the capability of Vietnamese retailers, wondering if they can compete with powerful foreign retail groups flocking to Vietnam.