Leading mobile retailer prospers in 2013

Recently the company reported revenues of VND7.8 trillion ($372 million) for 2013 with profits nearly doubling those of 2012.

Each month the company’s leading digital and equipment superstores and website thegioididong.com sold an average of 300,000 handsets and 10,000 laptops, earning VND250 billion ($12 million).

Deputy general director Tran Kinh Doanh attributed this success to the firm’s nationwide expansion efforts along with its fresh customer-centric business approach.

Currently the system consists of more than 200 supermarkets throughout the country.

The staff have been trained to provide the highest quality customer service and are rewarded based on customer satisfaction.

“Our company has also sacrificed profits by providing some software and installation free of charge such as Lac Viet Dictionary and programmes for listening to music or watching films,” said Doanh.

This year also saw Mobile World invest considerable sums into its online services segment, upgrading desktop and mobile versions of its website to better service customers.

The company’s stores are the only retailers for the thegioididong.com website for mobile phones, resulting in nearly 10 million hits a month. It has achieved eminent international awards such as being listed among Vietnam’s top five e-commerce websites and among the top 500 leading retailers in the Asia-Pacific region in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

In terms of its business plan for 2014, the company’s northern sales manager Ngo Tan Tai said one of the company’s key strategic targets is to advance its superstore system to other major cities and test their presence in townships as well as rural and remote locations.

Notably, next year the company is planning to open 50 to 100 smaller stores in small townships to draw experience and find the best formula for greater involvement in rural areas.

The firm has the goal of opening 700 to 1,000 stores in countryside locations over the next five years.

Company executives also revealed their intention to list on Vietnam’s stock market in the first or second quarter, 2014, as well as launching new sales promotions.

“We really started focusing on a customer-centric business mentality in 2013 and believe we are in a position to achieve even greater results in 2014 under our dynamic service network,” said Tai.