Despite being heavily influenced by two coronavirus waves, Da Nang continues securing its postition as an extremely potential retail market as the city’s retail sector has recorded positive growth for many consecutive months, projecting retail sales in the city to hit a speed bump over the forthcoming year-end peak sales season.

Shoppers at the Garment 10 JSC’s freshly-opened store on Nguyen Van Linh Street

Da Nang retail sector has thrived over the past 11 months. Statistics released by the Da Nang Statistics Bureau show that, in November alone, retail sales volumes was 5.3% higher compared to the previous month to stand at 5,284 billion VND. Meanwhile, total revenue generated from accommodation and catering services plumped by 31.8 % versus the month-ago period.

In late November, the Garment 10 JSC opened its third store on Nguyen Van Linh Street in Da Nang.

The company’s CEO Hoang The Nhu said, in addition to export activities, his company has focused on expanding its consumer market into three Vietnamese big cities of Da Nang, Ha Noi, and Ho Chi Minh City.

He explained the reason for opening a third store in Da Nang is that, for many years, Da Nang has affirmed its reputation as a dynamic market in Central Viet Nam with an impressive growth. Most noticeably, Da Nang sucessfully contained the second coronavirus wave in September.

“We plan to open more stores in Da Nang in the time to come with a focus on the segment of work outfits”, Mr Nhu revealed.

Likewise, Mr Tran Cong Danh, the Manager of Da Nang branch of the Nam Dinh-headquartered Moha Vietnam Co., Ltd,. said Da Nang boasts tremendous purchasing power. Additionally, thanks to its favourable position of being located on the North-South traffic axis, Da Nang is a convenient transportation and transit point for goods in Central Viet Nam, and across Viet Nam.

Mr Danh added the Da Nang branch of the company had sustained a growth rate of 15-20% per year before the city faced the second coronavirus wave in late July. He also expressed his belief that Da Nang retail industry is projected to register strong double-digit growth next year despite the current decline in purchasing power.

A salesman from the Nam Dinh-headquartered Moha Vietnam Co., Ltd, introducing products to shoppers at a recent trade show for domestic goods in Da Nang

Similarly, many businesses operating in Da Nang are confident of rapid post-pandemic recovery of the local retail sector over the upcoming year-end peak shopping season and the years ahead.

Bruno Jousselin, General Director of the MM Mega Market Vietnam Co., Ltd, said that the product consumption at his venue has been getting better in the past two months.

He added his supermarket is busy stockpiling food and consumer goods to meet the growing demand of its shoppers over the upcoming Christmas, New Year and Tet holidays.

He believed that Da Nang retail sector is on course for a rapid recovery from the coronavirus.

In an effort to boost domestic consumption, many trade shows and fairs were organised across the city in November and December.  

Latest data published by the municipal Centre of Industry and Trade Promotion shows retail sales in such events recorded positive growth.

The International East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) Trade and Tourism Fair 2020 in Da Nang proved to be a great success having attracted about 40,000 visitors and the participating businesses took an estimated over 10 billion VND from sales.

This is a positive result during the tough time when many businesses are still operating at limited capacity or have shuttered completely, and people are reducing their expenses and tightening their budget due to the significant impact of Covid-19.

By KHANH HOA - Translated by M.D