Many retailers in HCM City have adapted after strict social distancing measures, combining local and foreign brands.

At the same time, the launch of new brands contributes to attracting customers after prolonged closures.

The Business Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Products has cooperated with Japan’s Uniqlo chain to bring local agriculture products from the ‘Green Market’ programme into Uniqlo stores, marking the beginning of a tie-up between the two groups.

Consumers in HCM City can buy fashion items and agricultural products at Uniqlo stores in Van Hanh Mall, District 10, including Vinamit dried fruit, Cay Thi porridge, Tue Vien organic agriculture and Khanh Hoa bird's nests.

Ikezoe Osamu, CEO of Uniqlo Viet Nam, said that through a series of cooperative activities with the association, "Uniqlo hopes to offer practical support to local businesses and production firms,” adding at the same time, creating conditions for output during the recovery and development phase after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, as one of the top phone retailers in Viet Nam, The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World) has refreshed its retail chain by officially launching TopZone – Apple's latest high-end authorised retail brand in Viet Nam and selling the company’s flagship iPhone 13. At TopZone, customers will find a full and diverse range of products such as iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks and Apple accessories.

According to the firm, the first four stores have been opened, including two in Ha Noi and two in HCM City. It set an ambition to dominate the retail market of Apple products with a plan to open the Apple system at 50 to 60 stores from now until the end of March 2022.

Doan Van Tue Em, general director of Mobile World Joint Stock Company, said: “The company hopes TopZone will bring a fresh vibe to the retail market. TopZone completed negotiations with Apple at the peak of the pandemic and opened the first four stores at the same time right after social distancing.”

Em said they expected the average revenue for each TopZone store to be VND2 billion (US$96,956) to VND3 billion per month for small stores and VND8 billion to VND10 billion per month for a large-scale store.

Accompanying businesses in the city after the outbreak, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the city's department of Industry and Trade, said following the direction of the city’s People's Committee, the department has just launched the Golden Brand Award of HCM City for the second time in 2021 and expects to hand out prizes in December.

He said the award would raise awareness of businesses about the role and importance of building and developing a brand, alongside developing competitiveness.

In 2020, the award encouraged businesses to actively innovate, create, and develop sustainably, contributing to enhancing competitive advantages, strengthening the city’s brand names in domestic and international markets, said Vu.

In particular, a preliminary survey of 30 firms which won the award in 2020, showed that, despite difficulties and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, production and business activities were still guaranteed to follow a sustainable trend.

As the country's economy was gradually adapting to "living with the pandemic", enterprises must balance production and business plans and measure possible solutions by developing internal resources to reconnect broken lines in the value chain and operate the business according to the requirements of the "new normal".

HCM City is the economic hub of the southern region. Consumers are now looking for sustainable, green consumption, choosing reputable brands so businesses and retailers need to quickly adapt to new consumer tastes and keep pace with market movements after social distancing.

Regarding the recent cooperation between domestic and foreign retailers, Vu Tuan Anh, chairman of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Viet Nam, said JCI Viet Nam will focus on diversifying trade programmes, helping members connect resources according to JCI World's COVID-19 pandemic response campaign – JCI RISE.

Relying on the JCI network in more than 120 countries around the globe, JCI Viet Nam promotes domestic and international trade connections, bringing practical opportunities to businesses facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNS