Korea Convenience Store Chain Presented in Vietnam

In September 2016, the two first Ilahui stores in Vietnam have opened in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in the form of franchise.

According to Ilahui brand manager in Vietnam, in the fourth quarter of 2016, this brand will expand to 6 – 8 stores to serve the needs of customers both throughout the country. In the next 5 years, Ilahui will have at least 200 stores spreading across the provinces of Vietnam.

With the advantages of products and prices are updated, diverse in types and designs with elegant shopping space, the company expects this will be a new business model with strong penetration step intoVietnam retail market.

According to Nielsen Vietnam – a market research firm, among 93 million people of Vietnam, there are nearly 60% of the population are under 35 years old. The income of this class has also increased from 433 USD per person per year (in 2000) to 2,111 USD per person per year (in 2015). Vietnamese consumers also have demand to enjoy new and quality shopping experiences.

That is the reason leading to the explosion of the Vietnam retail market in recent years, especially the chain of convenience stores, which significantly including Family Mart, MiniStop, B’s Mart, Circle K, Shop & Go, Vinmart Plus and 7-Eleven… Now we have Ilahui – convenience store chain specializing in Korean style utilities items and fashion accessories in Hanoi and HCMC.

Ilahui strengths are Korean style utility items and fashion accessories, which are interested by Vietnam young people. With more than 3,000 products; 20,000 -25,000 products on shelves at a price from 10,000 VND; 100 new products every month with all types from men/women fashion, accessories, toys, stationery, home appliances, electronic accessories, cosmetics… bringing to customers many choices in terms of models and pricing. Besides, the new trends, fashion accessories that are favored by Korean idols will be updated quickly in Ilahui.

Besides customers are young people aged 15 – 35 years old, Ilahui also owns large numbers of customers over 35 years old who have modern spending habits, preferred the products with good designs and competitive price… All of them have created competitive advantage for Ilahui comparing with other convenience stores chain in the market.

Furthermore, Ilahui also target the personality of today’s youth through creating new style of shopping experience with simply but modern decorated space. The fashion accessories and cosmetics products are packaged in cute and colorful packaging. The number of products is a lot but they are sorted neatly on wooden shelves.

According to representative of Ilahui Vietnam, the Vietnam retail market is booming and the competition will become fiercer. High success rate along with the increasing openness of the market have led the franchise to become the investment plan that is interested by a lot of young Vietnamese people.

Ilahui is the convenience stores chain specializing in Korean style fashion accessories, which is expanding very fast in Asia with more than 500 stores within a year. Despite many challenges but with the advantages in product, distinct market segments and new shopping style, Ilahui is believed to have steady steps to conquer Vietnamese customers.

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Game on Mobile Phone Industry in Vietnam

About 3-4 years ago, the world’s game industry is undergoing a very big transformation, witnessing the rise of mobile gaming which outperformed the traditional platforms such as PC or console. In Vietnam, the gaming industry also falls in line with the world trend, many new companies or even large organization had developed mobile game.

In 2015, internet users in Vietnam reached 45 million, accounting for 48.4% of the total population of 93 million. The smartphone users reached 24 million, accounting for 25.8% of the total population, of which 9.3 million of mobile gamers and players loaded fee rate was 45%, reaching ARPPU index (average revenue average per player) is $ 27.71 (619.000 VND).

Until the end of 2015, the number of smartphone devices in Vietnam has reached $37 million, accounting for 52% the total number of mobile devices in the country. It can be seen from the General Statistic Office that from 2012 to 2015, 10 million devices have entered Vietnam’s market each year. Besides, Vietnam’s market has not come to saturation, so the potential growth for mobile gaming devices will continue to stay strong for at least 5-10 more years.

In terms of proportion of smartphone users based on age, the largest groups is from the age of 16-34 years old which accounted for 80% in 2015. In this group, the users from 16 – 24 years old take up to 45%. Besides, it can be noticed a remarkable rise of user groups of the age of 16-24 since this percentage rose from 20% in 2013 to 45% in 2015, indicating a huge change of demand of smartphone and purchasing power of smartphone.

If classifying users according to operating system, Android is still the most popular operating system in Vietnam in 2015 which accounted for 60% of users, followed by the 25% of iOS and Windows phone has the smallest market share of 15%. However, Windows phone showed significant change in 2015 when compared to 2014 (4%).  It indicates the development of a new market alongside iOS and Android. This is a unique point in the Vietnam mobile gaming market compared to other countries.

In terms classification depending on by device users and gender, smartphone devices still dominated completely with 90.3%, while tablet only accounted for 9.7%. In terms of gender, the rate does not differ hugely with 58% male and 42% female.

Smartphone game market value in Vietnam in 2015 reach $ 116 million (2,592 billion VND), the growth rate was 39.75% compared with 83 million dollars (1,854 billion VND) in 2014.

In terms of marketing channel for mobile gamers, social network such as Facebook channel remains an ideal place to promote game which accounted for 45%, followed by the local ad network (Admicro, Nova Ads …) accounting 30%, while Google and PR normally accounts for respectively 15% and 10%. Thus, both domestic companies that wish to penetrate the market will be highly recommended to use the ad unit local to achieve optimum efficiency.

In a paid form of payment, Vietnamese users can mainly use the phone (85%) to pay for the mobile gaming, followed by domestic bank card (10%) and Visa / MasterCard (5%). Thus, the mobile game usually have good links with the network provider of mobile phones in Vietnam. It is due to the fact that the users have not had the habit of using cards.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation. 

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +848 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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