Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo has had eight stores in Vietnam since late 2019. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A recent report on the local fashion market of theVietnam Industry Research and Consultancy (VIRAC) found that Vietnamesefashion brands are losing out in the local market, which is increasinglydominated by international brands.
Fashionmarket revenue in 2020 decreased by more than 10 percent from 2019due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the report, adding that popular localbrands such as Biti's, Canifa, Viet Tien and May 10 all ranked behind Adidas,Zara and H&M in terms of sales.
Thetop three fashion retailers in the country in 2020 were Adidas,Zara and H&M. Experts have said the enthusiasm of Vietnamesepeople for foreign fashion brands has helped them make trillions of VND in the country.
Whilethe revenue of big local brands has not been reported, according toH&M's annual report in 2020, the brand's revenue in Vietnam hit 453 millionSEK (54.3 million USD), up about 4.4 percent from 2019. The brand alsoopened its ninth store in the country last year.
Localmedia reported that a few months after launching in Vietnam, H&M achievedrevenue of 227 billion VND (9.78 million USD) in 2017 and reached 760billion VND in 2018 and 1.116 trillion VND in 2019.
Theyalso said Zara Vietnam recorded 321 billion VND in revenue in 2016, more than 1.1trillion VND in 2017 and nearly 1.7 trillion VND in 2018.
Asfor Uniqlo, although it has not announced revenue and profit figures yet, theJapanese fashion giant has continuously opened many new stores since enteringViet Nam at the end of 2019. The brand now has eight stores in Vietnam.
Whilemore and more fashion stores have closed in the pandemic, during the April 30and May 1 public holidays, H&M in Vincom Dong Khai in Ho Chi Minh Citywas full of people waiting in line to buy clothes. Zara, anotherforeign fashion brand located next to H&M in the same centre, was even morecrowded while Uniqlo, a Japanese fashion brand nearby, was even busier again.
VIRAC'sreport on May 7 said: "More and more international brands are entering themarket which is increasingly dominated by H&M, Zara, Uniqlo.”
TheVIRAC report calculated more than 200 foreign fashion brands from mid-range tohigh-end have official stores in Vietnam.
Datafrom Euromonitor shows fashion giants lead the Vietnamese fashion industry,with Adidas, Zara and H&M the three businesses holding the largest marketshare in the local fashion market.
VIRACsaid local fashion brands, on the other hand, were dwindling, saying: "Thedomestic fashion business has long been the underdog in the local market andthe situation is even worse now."
Accordingto the report, poor designs and the small scale of many local businessesmade it tough for them to compete.
PhamXuan Hong, Chairman of the HCM City Association ofGarment Textile Embroidery and Knitting, told local media:“Vietnamese love famous brands so they enjoy buying products from foreigngiants when they enter the country. In addition, the foreign brands also servethem with products of diverse models at suitable price segments.”
Thetrading of fake products at markets and stores and on e-commerce platformshas also caused difficulties for Vietnamese businesses./.
VNA
