New Lotte mall expands operating terms amid growth in foreign retail

Lotte's largest retail complex in Vietnam has opened all establishment

“We are committed to accompanying the socioeconomic development of Hanoi and Vietnam through investment activities, research, and development of more projects here,” said Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group.

Located in Hanoi, the $624 million complex combines a shopping mall with a hotel, cinema and aquarium, and has officially opened all establishments of the largest retail complex in Vietnam this month, is the 16^th supermarket of Lotte Mart in Vietnam, and the third branch of Lotte Mart in Hanoi.

This is in light of the restructuring in China and stagnating sales in Korea. The move signifies Lotte's turn towards Southeast Asia.

“1996 marked the beginning of Vietnam's Lotte Group with an investment contract for shopping malls and supermarkets, and now we have 19 member companies of Lotte in Vietnam,” he said.

Lotte Shopping operates department stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets, e-commerce, home shopping, and cinemas in South Korea, and department stores and hypermarkets in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam’s retail market is expected to reach $350 billion in 2025, which will account for 59 per cent of total domestic product sales.

Vietnamese retailers have upgraded their domestic distribution networks and domestic networks for exports. They have also made investments in e-commerce to cater to the growing customer base of young people, who make up over half of the roughly 100 million population.

Thus, Thailand's largest retail group Central Retail Corporation (CRC) considers Vietnam a high-potential market with continuous economic growth and sets a roadmap to continue expanding here with an investment of 50 billion baht ($1.45 billion) in the next five years. Of which, it will invest about 6 billion baht right in 2023 as CRC announced early this year.

Under the expansion plan, Central Retail Vietnam aims to double the number of stores to 600 out of 57 out of 63 cities and provinces in Vietnam by 2027.

Central Retail Vietnam’s group CEO Olivier Langlet said, “There are three main goals of the upcoming period for Central Retail Vietnam: double revenue, become the retailer with the best customer experience and promote multichannel sales,”

Vietnam has now become Central Group Thailand's second-largest market, after the domestic market, contributing about 24 per cent of total revenue in 2022, according to a report from the group.

Meanwhile, AEON Group identifies Vietnam as the second key market next to Japan in its long-term strategy. AEON Vietnam has made a selective investment strategy in business activities to prepare for future growth through the development of private-label products and e-commerce channels.

Retailers jostle for superiority The boom of e-commerce in the rental market space in commercial centres has forced developers to assert their distinct identities.

Thai largest retailer to pour over 1.4 billion USD in Vietnam Central Retail Corporation (CRC), the largest retailer of Thailand, has announced its biggest investment in Vietnam at 50 billion baht (1.45 billion USD) in the 2023-2027 period to accelerate its market presence in the country.

South Korean giants to pour billions of dollars into Vietnam More than 100 MoUs were signed by South Korean and Vietnamese businesses at the Vietnam-South Korea Business Forum on June 23.