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| People shop for electronic devices at Pico Plaza Ha Noi. Many businesses have planned to open supermarkets for electronic products despite slow consumption. — VNS Photo Truong Vi |
HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Electronics traders in the north are competing for customers by opening new stores, even though the purchasing power for these products has not increased.
Tran Anh and Media Mart, the two largest local electronics traders, opened new stores in Ha Noi and Hai Phong on Friday. Tran Anh has nine stores; Media Mart has eight.
Tran Anh has the most new electronic stores in the north. It opened three in the second quarter and one in the third quarter, with plans to open another in Ha Noi by the end of the year.
Tran Xuan Kien, Tran Anh Digital World Joint Stock Company's chairman and general director, said the aggressive openings were part of an expansion strategy that included other large northern cities, such as Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa, and even the south.
The local electronics market is fiercely competitive, said Nguyen Thanh Hai, Media Mart's marketing manager, with no individual retailer having more than 10 per cent market share.
This was why so many new stores were opening, another company leader explained. If one company opened a store, its rivals felt obliged to follow.
The gloomy real estate market made it easy to rent cheap retail space, he added.
Electronics stores have implemented several trade promotion programmes, but the programmes were not effective due to the economic downturn. — VNS