Philippines, Vietnam lead FMCG sales growth in Asia

The Philippines and Vietnam led Southeast Asian FMCG sales growth last year, according to a report by market research company Nielsen.

In What’s Next for Southeast Asia, Nielsen reported that Vietnam’s FMCG sales growth reached 5.2 per cent, second in Southeast Asia behind the Philippines’ 8.7 per cent.

Global FMCG sales growth was only 3.4 per cent, but Asian markets benefited from buoyant economic factors and strong consumer confidence.

In Vietnam, consumers are making more frequent shopping trips for everyday needs, with Nielsen’s data showing the average shopper visited a convenience store 4.5 times per month last year – that’s three times the frequency of 2010.

“We’ve been seeing solid growth in the convenience and mini-market channels across Southeast Asia for some time now, but over the past year or so that growth has really hit fever pitch,” said Vaughan Ryan, Nielsen’s MD Southeast Asia.

“Consumers throughout the region are living increasingly fast-paced lives, and this lifestyle shift is driving increasing demand for on-the-go offerings.”

Vietnam’s local retailers are taking advantage of the trend. Vingroup has launched the first virtual store chain in the country, which allows users to shop by scanning QR codes on large banners in public areas as well as printed catalogues.

Subsidiary VinCommerce, which owns the VinMart+ convenience store chain, recently acquired a rival c-store chain Shop&Go,which it plans to convert to its own banner. Vietnam retail is forecast to record double-digit growth from this year to 2024.