Overview
Vietnam’s retail market is a three-way split: traditional trade (wet markets and family shops), modern trade (supermarkets, minimarts, convenience stores and malls) and e-commerce. Retail sales of goods and consumer services reached about VND 7,009 trillion, roughly US$270 billion, in 2025, up about 10% (General Statistics Office), with goods making up about 76% of the total. Traditional trade still holds the majority of grocery spend, modern trade is growing, and e-commerce is the fastest-growing channel. This article compares the channels, shows who the main chains are, and explains what the split means for a brand choosing a route to market. For the market report see the retail overview.
Channel by channel
| Channel | Scale | Where it is strong |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional trade | About 8,274 traditional markets plus family-run shops | Majority of grocery spend; convenient, cash-friendly and local |
| Convenience stores and minimarts | About 7,500 (SHS Research, 2025) | Urban and increasingly rural neighbourhoods |
| Supermarkets | About 1,293 | Cities and larger towns |
| Shopping malls | 276 | Large cities |
| E-commerce | About 10% of retail (MoIT, 2025) | Fastest-growing channel |
Modern trade accounts for roughly 35–40% of retail in cities and 15–20% in rural areas (Kantar Worldpanel, 2025). Rural expansion is the largest runway for modern retail, because modern-retail penetration is still below 15% where nearly two-thirds of the population lives.
For e-commerce, two figures circulate, both from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Its Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, the lead agency, puts B2C e-commerce at about US$31 billion in 2025, up 25.5%, or about 10% of retail sales of goods and consumer services. A separate MoIT domestic-market report says about US$32 billion and nearly 12%. We use the lead agency’s figure. Traditional grocery stores still number nearly 1.4 million (NielsenIQ), against about 7,500 convenience stores and minimarts. The government’s stated target is for e-commerce to reach 15–20% of retail sales, about US$50 billion, by 2030, with total retail growth of 11–11.5% a year. That is a target, not an estimate.
Who runs modern retail
Domestic chains lead modern grocery; the top seven players hold nearly 90% of value in the segment, gaining share through acquisitions and rapid minimart rollouts.
- WinCommerce (Masan). WinMart and WinMart+, about 4,600 stores at the end of 2025, expanding in the North and in rural areas and targeting 1,000–1,500 new stores in 2026.
- Bach Hoa Xanh (Mobile World Group). Fresh-food minimarts, about VND 46.9 trillion in revenue in 2025, up 14%, strongest in the South.
- Saigon Co.op. Co.opmart, a leading domestic cooperative.
- Foreign operators. Central Retail (GO!, Big C, Tops), AEON, MM Mega Market and Lotte Mart in hypermarket and wholesale formats.
- Convenience. Circle K, GS25, Ministop and 7-Eleven in urban networks.
How the channels interact
Online and offline are blending: chains offer online ordering, marketplaces serve brand stores, and quick-commerce reaches homes in dense areas. For consumers the choice depends on product and place. For brands, traditional trade is reached through distributors and wholesalers, modern trade through direct listings or distributors with listing fees and promotional support, and e-commerce through marketplaces and brand sites. See the e-commerce article and the logistics article for the online side.
What it means for brands
- Match the channel to the product and region. City consumers can be reached through modern trade and e-commerce. Rural reach still depends on distributors and traditional outlets.
- Plan the distributor layer. Traditional trade requires distributors with coverage and credit terms; vet their reach and payment history.
- Know who holds the shelf. A few domestic chains hold most modern grocery value, so listing terms and negotiating power sit with them.
- Build both online and offline. Brands that sell through both need consistent pricing and promotion calendars to avoid channel conflict.
- Check licensing for a local entity. Foreign-invested retailers face Business Licence and economic needs test rules under Decree 342/2026/NĐ-CP from 18 October 2026. See Vietnam digital business regulations.
Limits of the data
Store counts and market shares come from industry sources compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and company disclosures, and they use different dates. Kantar’s modern-trade shares are survey-based. The e-commerce share varies by source. The earlier version of this article had many percentage ranges without sources; those have been removed.
Sources
- General Statistics Office / National Statistics Office: retail sales of goods and services, 2025
- Ministry of Industry and Trade: Vietnam Domestic Market Report 2025 (store formats, targets)
- Kantar Worldpanel: modern vs traditional trade, 2025
- Company disclosures: Masan / WinCommerce, Mobile World Group / Bach Hoa Xanh
- The Investor, VietnamPlus and VnExpress coverage
- Retail market report