Central Group of Thailand plans to expand investment in Vietnamese market
VOV.VN - Thai retail conglomerate Central Group is in the process of planning to aggressively expand its efforts in the Vietnamese market in the hope of taping into an expected jump in demand when the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to Nikkei Asia newspaper.
The news outlet cited an annual report on business strategy from Central Retail, the core retail arm of Central Group, which stated that the Group has set aside 30 billion baht, equal to US$848 million, to invest in Vietnam. With this capital, it intends to increase sales to 100 billion baht over the next five years, up from the current figure of 38.6 billion baht.
The plan is in line with analysts' forecasts which expect the resilient Vietnamese economy to continue to grow following the pandemic. These forecasts anticipate that the country's retail sector will grow at 9% annually to around US$150 million, the media outlet said.
Furthermore, it also quoted a Kasikorn Research Center analyst as saying that Central Retail currently has a strong presence in Vietnam, a market it first entered more than 20 years ago. "This time it will shift its investment focus from brick-and-mortar stores to technology to expand its selling platform and gain a greater customer base," the analyst said.
Central Retail currently has 340 malls and stores, as well as 10 retail brands in Vietnam, including Go! Mall, Nguyen Kim, SuperSports, and Top Market, spanning sectors such as electronics, sportswear, and groceries.
The company also has BIPBIP, an e-commerce food and grocery shopping platform which stocks over 12,000 items and has a 12 million-strong customer base.
Central Retail hopes that its 30-billion-baht investment will greatly contribute to it to becoming Vietnam's primary food and property retail platform.
Apart from efforts to expand its existing operations, it will also seek to purchase businesses capable of helping to expand its reach.
According to details given by the publisher, the company is in the process of pushing a business strategy it calls "omnichannel" that allows online consumers to choose whether to pick up their orders or have them delivered. Central Retail expects sales through this to make up more than 15% of the company's total over the next few years, up from the current figure of 8%.