MM Mega Market: Five years to win over Vietnamese consumers

Bruno Jousselin, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam

It has been five years since the MM Mega Market brand was launched in January 2017. How far has MM come since then?

Over the past nearly five years, MM Mega Market Vietnam has made many strategic changes to adapt to the dynamic growth of the market and to meet the modern shopping habits of the Vietnamese.

First of all, from the initial business model of Cash & Carry, MM Mega Market has diversified and expanded our customer profile from only professional customers to both professional and household ones. With this strategy, more and more Vietnamese consumers can approach our products, especially ultra-fresh items which are our unique strength.

Another milestone is that we launched our MCARD loyalty card and application that offer multiple benefits for customers such as accumulating points or frequent promotions. Just in five years, we opened three more platforms for pork and fruits to reinforce our commitment in high-quality ultra-fresh products. We also offer many tailor-made solutions for our professional customers.

Besides, COVID-19 has become a strong push for MM to quickly transform into omnichannel sales, providing the fastest, most convenient, and safest shopping experience for consumers during the pandemic outbreak in Vietnam.

Currently, customers can have easy access to MM’s e-commerce solutions via three channels including the MM website Click & Get, Zalo OA, and telesales. This November, we are also launching MMPro, another e-commerce website for professional customers. Simultaneously, MM also accepts payments via MOMO, Payoo, Zalopay, and VNpay to offer the most convenient online shopping experience to our clients.

Being aware of the shopping psychology of the Vietnamese in a busy, modern life, we have opened more MM centres of smaller scale in the inner city to offer more conveniences for customers, aside from our existing big MM hypermarket. It is noteworthy that we have developed the Food Service, Depot and Hybrid Food Service format – a venue that combines on-site shopping for household customers and sales for professional customers in big cities with developed travel and hospitality services.

As one of the leading modern distribution channels in the country, how does MM Mega Market support the consumption of Vietnamese-made goods?

Over these five years, we have carried out many promotions and cooperation programmes to distribute Vietnamese-made goods through the MM network and to accelerate the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to Thailand, Singapore, and the markets within the network of TCC Group. It is worth noting that the Vietnamese Goods Week in Thailand was jointly organised by MM and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade in Bangkok in 2019.

In 2020, the Vietnamese Goods and OCOP Products Week was held by MM in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang to promote One Commune, One Product (OCOP) producers and traders and Vietnamese brands nationwide. MM has signed an MoU on developing production and connecting consumption of OCOP products at OCOP showrooms with the departments of Industry and Trade of 14 provinces. So far, thousands of OCOP items are being sold through the MM network countrywide.

MM signed MoUs with 14 provinces to promote OCOP products

At present, we are collaborating with thousands of farmers to develop the “farm-to-fork” safe food supply chain. MM is operating five food platforms, including two pork platforms in Hanoi and Dong Nai; one fruit and vegetable platform in Dalat city; one fruit platform in Tien Giang; and one fish platform in Can Tho.

What is the strategy of MM to overcome COVID-19 challenges to continue its growth?

Over the past two years, MM has tried hard to maintain its growth during the pandemic and to be ready for the post-COVID-19 period. In the long run, Vietnam’s retail market is promising with a population of 100 million people, which is ranked in the group of nations with the strongest development of the middle class in a decade and a rapid urbanisation rate.

MM has always been persistent in its sustainable development strategy and long-term commitment to Vietnam. Therefore, in the future, we will continue to invest strongly in e-commerce and digital technologies to improve customers’ modern shopping experience in the digital era.

MM also continues to expand its multi format in second tier cities; invest in direct sourcing for safe fresh food supply chain to bring the best quality, freshest and the best prices to Vietnamese consumers.

I also want to emphasise that our main philosophy – the 3C Concept – will continue to be enhanced in the coming time. The first C is Customer Champion, as the customer is definitely the core of our business strategy. The second C is Drive Change. Our strategy needs to be adaptable and we need to be able to change to keep up with the rapidly changing market, as well as the shopping behaviour of our customers. The last C is Collaboration, into which I have put a lot of effort since I joined MM Mega Market Vietnam. I think the world we live in today is the world of collaboration at any level. Therefore, at MM, we have implemented a lot of programmes to enhance collaboration internally and with external players.

Collaboration is one of 3C Concept in MM Mega Market Vietnam’s philosophy

Retail involves interaction among humans. This is why MM will not thrive sustainably without investment in human resources – the most important asset of MM. In the future, we continue focusing on building MM as an ideal working environment with chances for development for some 4,000 staff members.

We are proud that the MM Mega Market brand has been ranked in the Top 10 most prestigious retailers in Vietnam for the three consecutive years of our short five years in the market. MM has also been elected as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Asia by HR Asia, a leading HR magazine. We believe that the initial achievements in the first five years will be a firm ground for MM Mega Market to create breakthroughs, contributing to the common growth of Vietnam’s retail market.