7-Eleven Vietnam plans 1000 stores

The world’s largest convenience store operator has confirmed the signing of a master franchisee in Vietnam and now plans 1000 stores over the next decade.

7-Eleven Vietnam will be a partnership between the Japanese-headquartered US subsidiary and a new venture called Seven System Vietnam Co. While the US announcement did not identify the parties behind Seven System, Japan’s Nikkei news agency identified the partner as IFB Vietnam, which owns the Pizza Hut franchise in Vietnam.

Nikkei says the first store will open in the nation’s commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, with a target of 100 stores within the first three years and 1000 within 10.

7-Eleven has 56,400 stores globally and Vietnam will mark its 18th international market.

Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has openly been assessing a Vietnam entry for some years. The convenience store sector is still at an early development stage with Circle K and FamilyMart the early entrants and Thailand’s B-smart, part of the Berlei Jucker Group, playing a cameo role.

Given the booming convenience store market in other Southeast Asian countries, especially Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, 7-Eleven’s superior logistics, product mix, marketing and location selection should see it assume market leadership there well within the first 10 year window.

7-Eleven’s US statement says, somewhat enigmatically, the new Vietnam business will “construct 7-Eleven stores [and] convert existing locations to the 7-Eleven brand” without disclosing which brand is to be swallowed up.

While the initial stores will be company-owned, the company says it will eventually franchise stores to local entrepreneurs.

“7-Eleven’s entry into the country aims to enhance the convenience-shopping experience for Vietnamese customers and contribute to modernizing small retailers in the world’s 13th most populous country.”

7-Eleven US and its parent company, Seven-Eleven Japan, will provide start-up support for its newest master franchisee by assisting Seven System Vietnam in implementing 7-Eleven’s strategies of market concentration, team merchandising and item by item management. Vietnam marks 7-Eleven’s first new market in the Pacific Rim since it entered Indonesia in 2009.

It already operates in the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, China, The Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the UAE, where the first 7-Eleven store will open in the third quarter of this year.