Consider retail as the 'driver' of development

bán lẻ - Ảnh 1. — With more complete logistics infrastructure and better costs, retail goods movement in Ho Chi Minh City will increase sharply - Photo: TRI DUC

Sharing about the "supermarket profession", Mr. Paul Le, Vice President in charge of trade promotion of Central Retail Vietnam Group (operating the supermarket systems Go!, Big C), said that this is a very broad field. When the supermarket industry develops well, it will pull many other industries up, such as logistics, marketing, export...

Must closely monitor quality control

* With your experience and current market reality, what criteria do you think are needed to operate in the retail industry in Vietnam?

- I call this my supermarket career: Bringing good, delicious, and reasonably priced products to 100 million Vietnamese people. Over the 12 years we have been in Vietnam, Central Retail initially had only about 3 employees, now it has 15,000.

With this number of personnel, the skills and expertise of the Vietnamese retail industry have also developed over the years.

We also recommend that universities should have a major in retail and are collaborating with an educational institution under the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop a subject on retail.

This "supermarket profession" is a very broad field, with a lot of work. In each supermarket, there will always be things that need to be done better every day, such as always having to closely monitor quality control, price monitoring, and even cash registers.

We are very proud of our contribution to Vietnam. At Central Retail, the price is not about being cheap, but about being right. Knowing that vegetables are important to Vietnamese people, we offer discounts on fruit and vegetables.

We will try to make it so that every mother who goes into the supermarket with two children can afford to buy an extra candy or a toy for her child. This makes the mother happy, the children happy and they bring this joy from the supermarket back to their family.

Tips for getting goods into supermarkets

* What is your comment on the difference in the retail industry picture with the new scale of Ho Chi Minh City? Does the arrangement of localities in Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh City, make the group change its management style?

- Ho Chi Minh City has just over 14 million people, this is a very large population, with many opportunities. We aim to continue to expand, for example, opening a large, beautiful supermarket in Saigon ward would make us very happy. Ho Chi Minh City is like a window for foreigners to come and learn about Vietnamese culture, as well as bring Vietnamese culture to the world .

The merger helps Ho Chi Minh City have the leading economic potential in Vietnam, certainly our group must change our vision for this city.

Right in Ho Chi Minh City, Thao Dien residents and An Lac residents have different needs. In An Lac we sell roasted veal, in Thao Dien we sell salmon or cheese because there are many foreign visitors. And as the city develops, this will also change.

In view of the opportunities, we always aim to open more supermarkets, support more businesses, cooperatives, Vietnamese farmers... Central Retail also plans to expand logistics centers to make transportation easier.

However, there are still many issues that we need to observe and cannot yet make predictions. While the world economy is experiencing many fluctuations, in my opinion, the important thing for the "supermarket industry" today is that we should not look too far. When looking closer, the most important thing is that consumers coming to our supermarket can buy goods at the right price.

Vietnam's future holds very strong opportunities. We believe in the opportunities in Vietnam and we will continue to invest.

* Do you have anything to share with Vietnamese businesses to promote bringing products into Central Retail's sales system not only in Vietnam?

- Consumers go to the supermarket to buy products. To buy, they will need to trust the product, trust the story behind the product, and then the product must be priced right.

From there, we can see the need for cooperation to develop further. Often, Vietnamese small and medium enterprises have a very big vision, but are not able to implement it. They produce and want their products to be sold nationwide, but the story of the product cannot be told.

You need to research, go to the supermarket and check to see if the product packaging fits the shelf. If the packaging is suitable, your product will be beautiful and your brand will be clearly visible.

Don’t just focus on the technical aspects and forget about the brand. Know how your product can be promoted to reach and tell the story to consumers.

The supermarket business is not difficult, it is just logical. The logic is to see who your customers are, your supermarket must be clean, the prices are right, the information is clear, and there are promotions, Vietnamese people love promotions.

The manufacturer also has to check his inventory every day to help the supermarket manager place his orders on time. Start with the first supermarket and then expand gradually. Don't set a goal right from the start: "I have to sell nationwide when I start working."

In fact, it is not easy to penetrate the supermarket niche if businesses are only used to selling to traditional market sources. Changing the thinking and habits of businesses so that their goods can enter supermarkets is also very difficult.

As in the case of Muong Khuong chili sauce (Lao Cai), we are very passionate and want to have this product on our shelves. We are still supporting them, because it is impossible to put an item without any certification on supermarket shelves.

Improving Logistics to Boost Retail Industry

Speaking at the recent seminar "Ho Chi Minh City Development Space - Driving Force from Building Supply Chains and Retail", Mr. Paul Le suggested that logistics infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue to be developed so that the retail industry can thrive in today's large market.

He mentioned the fact that logistics conditions, delivery conditions, preservation, the number of cold storages... in the city are still limited, suggesting that if logistics infrastructure is more complete and costs are better, the movement of retail goods will increase sharply.

"We proactively bring international goods to Vietnam and bring Vietnamese goods to the world, but the important thing is how logistics is organized to bring world goods to the 14 million people in the new city and bring goods from the new Ho Chi Minh City to the world," he said.

NGHI VU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/coi-ban-le-la-dau-keo-phat-trien-20250818110419813.htm