According to the Market Department–Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, in the long term, Vietnam is still a potential retail market with nearly 100 million people, classified in the group of countries with central income growth strongly and rapid urbanization. Statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that the total retail sales of goods and services in the first 6M-2022 reached VND 2,717 trillion, raised 11.7% over the same period in 2021. In particular, the number of convenience stores in recent years raised up constantly. In 2022, the number of supermarkets has increased by 89% compared to 2005, contributing to boosting goods flow towards modern civilization. (post from The Industry and Trade magazine, 2022)
Convenience store market segmented in two different directions: the segment of mini supermarkets selling groceries and meat, fish, vegetables (typically WinMart+, Satra food, Co.op smile and Co.op Food,...) the rest are stores that focus on catering, selling groceries along with fast food and drinks prepared on the spot that customer can eat there. The mini supermarket attracts officers, families with ingredients, and the catering model attracts young people and students who need quick meals, or enjoy the air conditioner and free Wi-Fi.
WinMart+ is the chain of stores with the highest revenue in the industry (WinMart+’s revenue and profit including the WinMart supermarkets and other products of WinCommerce), the revenue WinMart+ in 2020 is eleven times higher than Circle K. Despite the big gap in sales revenue compared to the leader, Circle K also shows its potential with revenue in 2020 is quite higher Family Mart. WinMart+, Family Mart, B's Mart are businesses with a decrease in revenue in 2021 compared to 2020. Ministop, 7-Eleven, GS25 and Co.op Smile rose well their revenue in 2021.
Every enterprise in the market had losses but had more positive profit after tax than 2020. Most businesses reduced their after-tax losses compared to 2020 (only 7-Eleven and GS25 increased after-tax loss compared to 2020). WinMart reduced their after-tax loss the most, up to -95%. In 2021, the business had the highest loss was GS25 with -152 billion VND and the lowest was B's Mart with -32 billion VND.
WinMart+
Since merging with Masan, the leading retail group in Vietnam, the WinMart+ store chain continuously expanded their branches. By mid-2021, WinMart+ had over 3,000 stores nationwide. From the beginning of 2022 to now, over 300 new supermarkets and WinMart / WinMart+ stores have been opened nationwide. Masan aimed to open 700 new WinMart+ stores in 2022. WinCommerce is not only a retail company but also produces consumer goods and food. Four typical brands of the WinMart system include: WinMart Good (dry food); WinMart Cook (processed food); WinMart Home (household appliances); WinMart Care (personal care).
Since the high profit in 2018, WinMart continuously recorded loss after tax, the loss of WinMart sat a record in 2020 of about -3,200 billion VND, but it dropped sharply to only about -150 billion VND in 2021. Although losing 100 billion was a lot, but compared to WinMart 's revenue of VND 30 trillion in 2021 is insignificant. (WinMart's revenue and profit after tax retrieved from WinCommerce company, including WinMart supermarket, WinMart+ store and other products)
Circle K
Originating from a long-standing chain in the US, Circle K has quickly entered the Vietnamese and now owned 388 stores, including 201 stores in Ho Chi Minh City, 142 stores in Hanoi and 45 stores spread across 6 other provinces.
Circle K had quite high revenue compared to other enterprises in the industry. Circle K's revenue maintained a steady increase over the years, but decreased by about 6% in 2020 (from nearly 2.830 billion VND in 2019 to about 2.740 billion VND in 2020). Although However, Circle K increases loss after tax is quite high, about 20% (-152 billion VND in 2019 and -183 billion VND in 2020)
Family Mart
Family Mart is a Japanese convenience store system belonging to Vietnam Family Convenience Store Co., Ltd. Currently, the number of stores in Japan and 7 other countries around the world (including Vietnam) has reached over 23,800 stores. Since then opening of its first store in Vietnam in July 2013, Family Mart now had 150 stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong and Vung Tau. Ho Chi Minh City area had the largest number of Family Mart stores, with 116 stores (data from Family Mart website).
Because of the strong competitive market and the social distancing in 2020, 2021, Family Mart's revenue dropped significantly. From the top revenue in 2019 with over 1,300 billion VND, revenue dropped to only about 1,200 billion VND in 2020 and nearly 1,120 billion VND in 2021. The company had continued to suffer losses since its establishment, but their loss had decreased well. From a loss of about 78 billion in 2017, the company reduced to about 45 billion in 2021.
Ministop
As a convenience store chain from Japan and belonging to Aeon Group, the Ministop was only available in Japan and Vietnam. Ministop had its first store in Vietnam in 2015 and quickly developed its chain to 124 stores (data from Ministop website, as of May 26, 2022).
Ministop's revenue had quite good growth in recent years and maintain growth even in the period of 2020-2021, although the Covid-19 epidemic caused many other businesses to decrease their revenue. However, Ministop still maintained a fairly high loss in the industry, peaking at over 200 billion VND in 2018 and reaching the lowest in 2021 with about 100 billion VND.
GS25
GS25 is a Korean brand established in 1990, appeared in Vietnam in 2017 and had opened 162 stores as of July 2022. GS25 is one of the few brands operating with the franchise model, and GS25 has a strong increase in the number of stores compared to other businesses.
Until now, GS25 still maintained losses and has a steady increase in after-tax losses over the years. Business GS25's net income from goods and services also grew over the years thanks to the continuous opening of new stores. In 2021, GS25's revenue reached nearly 760 billion VND, although also recorded a loss of -152 billion VND.
7-Eleven
As the most successful convenience store chain in history, 7-Eleven has not yet made a strong impression in the Vietnamese market. After 5 years of operation, 7-Eleven had only opened 66 stores in the HCMC area.
7-Eleven had a steady increase in revenue over the years, but it increased little in 2020-2021, revenue in 2019-2020 was around 414 billion VND, revenue in 2021 increased to about 488 billion VND. 7-Eleven was like other businesses in the industry, continuously suffering losses with a loss of around VND 100 billion since 2019.
Businesses in the convenience store are still getting losses to invest and create habits of consumers. But since the pandemic, consumers have gradually reduced their spending in traditional markets. The increase in revenue and decrease in after-tax loss of convenience store chains showed a positive trend in market growth and future prospects.
Convenience stores should expand the range of goods and services to fulfill the needs of consumers. Besides, stores can combine with delivery units such as Grab, Gojek, Baemin to increase revenue for stores.
Source: Vietdata financial platform