Retailers flexibly steering through turbulent times

Despite the festive occasion, the consumption of non-essential goods in the first month of 2023 remained stagnant, with analysts believing the situation will linger throughout at least the first half this year.

Despite the unfavourable environment, Mobile World Group (MWG) – the largest consumer electronics retailer in Vietnam – still aims to post positive revenue and net-profit growth in 2023, as well as two-digit growth compared to average level during the 2020-2022 period.

To achieve this goal, the company envisages opening new stores on a selective basis and striving for new shops to generate profit for the patent company within three months after launching.

Simultaneously, all shops in the system will focus on augmenting the sales revenue at existing outlets and controlling their operating costs to boost profits.

Besides this, MWG will optimise its cash flow and slash financial expenses through improved inventory management.

Specifically, the group aims to concentrate investments into seed fields that are deemed as their new growth enablers for the current period, such as promoting AVAKids products and An Khang drug store chains.

Meanwhile, FPT Retail has an ambition to grow into a leading multi-field retailer.

FPT Retail chairwoman Nguyen Bach Diep has set a target to provide a wide assortment of products to satisfy a variety of consumer needs.

Diep believes that the core capacity of any outlet depends on developing the retail chains and doing a smart job with the chain system management, irrespective of whatever products are sold.

In the case of FPT retail, from its core field of technology, the company has engaged in selling drugs via its Long Chau drug store network.

In 2022, the Long Chau brand reached 1,000 shops, with 5 million customers dropping into its shops physically and over 2.5 million customers shopping online to make monthly purchases.

Diep said that current difficulties may linger until the middle of next year, or even until the year-end period, as consumers further tighten their budgets and concentrate on essential items.

In this situation, FPT Long Chau aims for network expansion, opening 400-500 drug stores this year to act as the growth engine for FPT Retail.

Another retail giant, Masan Group, focused on consolidating its integrated consumer retail platform in 2022 through the launch of the WIN shop system.

Despite the challenging environment last year, the company opened 730 new retail outlets under the WinMart+ and WIN brands.

In 2023 and beyond, the company will focus on digitalising its entire consumer network from production to retail, simultaneously developing an integrated platform with modern and traditional trade formats.

Masan's chairman Nguyen Dang Quang believes that these innovations will benefit consumers, helping them to save on costs while gaining fresh and intriguing experiences.

Opening new outlets and raising revenue continues to be the growth focus for the company in the current period.

Masan aims to open 800-1,200 outlets in 2023, applying mini mart and mini mall models in both urban and rural areas to consolidate their chain's status in consumers' hearts.

The specialists at SSI Research have presented a scenario suggesting that inflation will peak in the first half of 2023 before decelerating in the second half.

With such scenario, spending on handsets and electro-mechanical products is forecast to shed 10 per cent on-year in the first half, then gradually reboot over the remainder of the year.

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