After 17 years of operating in Viet Nam, MM Mega Market Vietnam Company Ltd, well-known as a giant wholesaler, launched the first retail MM Super Market last month. Viet Nam News spoke to Bruno Jousselin, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam, about it and the company’s retail strategies.

Why is your company opening a retail supermarket now? Why only in Ha Noi and not in the other big cities?

The opening of the first retail supermarket at this time is part of our long-term development strategy in the Viet Nam market, while also meeting the new shopping habits of Vietnamese consumers.

Vietnamese consumers are increasingly interested in quality, food safety and hygiene. Besides, due to their busy lives, consumers in big cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City prefer shopping in the city centre to save travelling time. That is also the reason we decided to open the first MM Super Market retail centre in Ha Noi.

With a strong foundation as the leading wholesaler over the last 17 years, we can leverage our strengths in quality fresh food products in our supermarket. We want to utilise this strength to meet the fresh and safe food demands of customers.

Can you tell us about this new supermarket? How does it compare with other retail businesses in the country?

Our first retail shop in Viet Nam, MM Super Market Thanh Xuan, is in the basement of the Imperial Plaza Building at 360 Giai Phong road in Thanh Xuan District. With an area of 7,000m2 and more than 10,000 products, the supermarket offers our customers a diverse range of goods and the best value for money.

In addition to inheriting the advantages of our wholesale system, the MM Super Market retail brand also inherits the experience of operating nearly 1,000 Big C outlets and stores in Thailand. Therefore, besides safe foods, diverse goods and competitive prices, customer service is also a strength of our retail supermarket.

What are your plans for developing the retail business?

In 2020 we plan to open three food service outlets focus on B2B and B2C in big cities. Over the long term we aim to become the best retailer in the market to bring the best value to Vietnamese consumers.

In order to build MM Super Market up as a reliable food shopping destination for Vietnamese families, we are going to put into operation a pork platform in the north. In the coming years we also plan to build the first MM chicken platform in Viet Nam with the goal of bringing fresh and safe foods to customers, strictly controlled based on international standards of food safety and quality.Besides, we will develop digital capabilities through interactive e-business platform, mobile application and loyalty program.

How does MM Mega Market plan to increase its share in a market dominated by giant global and domestic retailers?

We put consumers at the centre of all development strategies of MM Super Market in Viet Nam. From this, we will constantly improve the quality of products and services to meet the shopping needs of Vietnamese consumers. With international experience and local expertise of over 17 years of doing business in Viet Nam, we are confident that our retail brand will be well received and loved by Vietnamese consumers.

What will happen to your wholesale business after your move into retail?

Our goal is to maintain our position as the leading food supplier to Hotel, Restaurant, Cafe/Catering (HORECA) and become the best retailer in the Vietnam market. We will still focus on the wholesale segment - this is the strength of MM Mega Market in Vietnam.

How do you see the potential of the Vietnamese retail market? How does it compare with other countries in the neighbourhood?

Viet Nam's retail market is ranked among the most attractive in the world. In recent years the Vietnamese retail market has doubled growth.

Household spending in Viet Nam is forecast to increase by 10.5 per cent a year on average and reach US$714 a month by 2020. The country has a population of nearly 100 million with a young demographic (60 per cent of the population is aged 18-50) and the fastest urbanisation rate in Southeast Asia, and so the retail industry will surely achieve higher growth numbers.

But according to recent statistics, coverage by the modern retail system in Viet Nam is still lower than in many countries in the region at only about 26 per cent of total retail sales, while it is 33 per cent in the Philippines, 34 per cent in Thailand, 60 per cent in Malaysia, and 90 per cent in Singapore.

Therefore, the space for development for the Vietnamese retail market is still very large.

How do you see the retail market in 2020 and what are your company's plans?

Along with the great opportunities mentioned above, the retail market this year will be fiercely competitive due to the participation of some well-known regional retail brands and growing domestic retail businesses. In order to maintain our solid position as the leading food supplier of HORECA and become the best retailer in the Vietnamese market, we will have a lot of customer service innovations this year.

This year, besides the expansion of B2B platforms, we will also open new supermarket and launch new food service concept, develop virtual stores to provide products to remote areas/cities, and carry out marketing and sales on our e-platform to bring the utmost convenience to customers.

We will promote food platforms to provide customers with safe fresh foods. This is also a strength of MM as a pioneer in building safe agricultural supply chains in Viet Nam since 2005.

What should Viet Nam do to have a strong and competitive retail market and attract more investors in this sector?

I think in recent years Viet Nam has rolled out many excellent policies to attract foreign investors into the retail market, including MM Mega Market. The retail market in Viet Nam has a lot of well-known retail brands from the region and around the world. But the market is still in an early stage of development and will definitely see very strong growth in the coming years.

We can see the explosion of technology 4.0 and favourable conditions for e-commerce are rapidly changing Vietnamese consumer trends. In order to keep the Vietnamese retail market growing, in my opinion, retailers need to effectively combine online and offline sales and develop convenient delivery services. At MM Mega Market, we have predicted this new trend of Vietnamese consumption, and there will be many innovations starting this year. — VNS