Vietnam seen as growth market by Japanese retailers
Japanese retailers Aeon and Sumitomo have announced plans to expand their supermarket networks in Vietnam each adding dozens of stores in the coming years.
According to a report from Nikkei Asia, Aeon plans to increase the number of its ‘super supermarkets’ (SSM) and general merchandise stores (GMS) to 100 by 2023.
Meanwhile, Sumitomo said it will grow its Fuji Mart food supermarket chain – developed through a partnership with Vietnam’s BRG Group – from the current 20 to 50 stores by 2028.
As of February, Aeon operated 12 general merchandise stores in Vietnam, three of which were super supermarkets, and 36 regular supermarkets, including Citimart stores run by its subsidiary.
The SSM model is a combination of a food supermarket and a GMS, with a food court and a cosmetics counter. The Japanese retailer said it also considering expanding its regular supermarket footprint to about 200 stores.
“To compete with companies like [Thai retailer] Central, we need to aim for 100 general merchandise stores and super-supermarkets by around 2030,” said Yasuyuki Furusawa, who led the retailer’s Vietnam operations until he recently became Aeon Retail’s president.
Sumitomo said it would leverage its experience with Summit – a food supermarket chain that Sumitomo operates mainly in Tokyo – to operate the stores, with the aim of minimising out-of-stock situation and strictly controlling product freshness.
Fuji Mart President Obama Yuji emphasised that although Fuji Mart is a Japanese chain, it is targeting Vietnamese people.
