Supermarkets versus street markets
How could the supermarkets take charge in Vietnam? Do they provide the same value as the old markets? Probably they do, if not they would not survive. Concerning the consumer behavior there are three topics to touch upon regarding the Vietnamese retail market. The numbers are collected at Ac Nielsen´s report on groceries in Vietnam from 2010.
First I found that 67% of total consumer expenditure is on fresh food. This means that eventually the supermarkets became excellent in their offerings of fresh food, so the consumers could turn from the street markets (known for the splendid fresh groceries) and to the supermarkets. If the supermarkets did not offer a satisfying solution to the consumers need for fresh food, I believe this change would not be happening so quickly and maybe the local markets would survive a bit longer. The supermarket chains knew what they needed to provide to turn the consumers into supermarket shopping instead of street market shopping. And they succeeded.