A high number of electronics and home appliance distributors were listed In the VNR500, the ranking of Vietnamese top 500 enterprises in terms of turnover, which has been released by Vietnam Report and VietNamNet, . This shows the stiff competition among the distributors on the market.

Vu Dang Vinh, Director of Vietnam Report Company, noted that while the leading positions in the list of top electronics and home appliance manufacturers belong to foreign invested enterprises, domestic enterprises have gained high positions in the distribution and retailing, because they have good distribution channels.

This is for the fourth time Vietnam Report releases the report on Vietnamese 500 biggest enterprises. And it is an interesting thing to note that more names of domestic distributors have appeared in this year’s list. These include very well known names such as Nguyen Kim, Cao Phong, Thien Nam Hoa, Tran Anh, Phong Vu and Hoan Long.

According to Vinh, what many enterprises have in common is that they started their business as small or medium enterprises. Thanks to their strength and intelligence, they learnt the management and corporate governance skills from foreign enterprises, and therefore, they can meet the strict requirements set by manufacturers. After a period of learning and accumulating experience, their distribution networks have expanded, while their products have diversified.

“No enterprise had big business scale right from the start,” Vinh said

Agreeing with Vinh, Dinh Thi My Loan, Secretary General of the Vietnam Retailers’ Association, said that this is really a good sign, showing that private enterprises have made great efforts to develop and hold their positions on the market. customers will benefit from diversified products and professional services,.

Sustainable growth period begins

Electronics and home appliance are considered a bustling and lucrative market in Vietnam. Big distributors have reported that their growth rates have always been at two-digit levels in recent years.

The high speed urbanization has been cited as the main factor that helps push up the expansion, development and renovation process of distributors.

However, experts believe that the period, when enterprises tried to develop at any cost, is over. From now on, the market will enter a new stage, when enterprises develop based on core values instead of simply running after trade and profit. By that time, the market will belong to a small number of big enterprises which have good financial capability, brands, and development strategies.

“There are two levels of development. The first one is the initial period, when retailers compete fiercely in terms of prices. Only the strongest businesses can survive. The second phase begins when the market stabilizes. It is the right time for retailers to conquer customers’ loyalty through their service quality,” said Nghiem Xuan Thang, Managing Director of Tran Anh chain.

An expert says the three most important factors which can create the positions of enterprises are: 1/ the advantageous positions and the optimized spending 2/ the modern corporate governance system and 3/ the transparency in business and finance.

Of the three factors, the first two are considered the “hard power?”, while the third one is the “soft power?” – business philosophy. The stories of the successful retailers in the world, such as Wal-Mart or Carrefour, all show that they always strive for transparency. These are the companies, where everyone can contribute experience and material??

Explaining the absence of some big retailers in VNR500, Vinh from Vietnam Report said that the list of top 500 private enterprises has been based on many criteria, especially the figures about the turnover provided by the General Department of Taxation. Only the enterprises with the minimum turnover of 500 billion dong were under consideration.

“It is true that many enterprises have good brands and good strategies,, but they may be in the process of making investments to build retail premises and build up the workforce. Therefore, they have not got noted a high turnover. These are enterprises which may appear in the list in the next years.

Nguyen Nga