'Just like shopping in Korea' … Ho Chi Minh City shoppers flock to Lotte department store and mart

At a department store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, shopping continues after business hours end four times a year. This is a special event in which the store reopens its doors for top-tier customers. Sales generated from these four annual events account for more than 10% of the department store's total annual revenue. At a large supermarket in the same city, Korean Shine Muscat grapes are prominently displayed at the entrance, and food options along with dining spaces are provided so that customers can have both lunch and dinner on-site. This is how Lotte Department Store and Lotte Mart are winning over Vietnamese consumers' wallets.

VIP Shopping Continues Even After Business Hours... Events Account for Over 10% of Annual Revenue, Held Four Times

Located in District 1, the central commercial district of Ho Chi Minh City, is Lotte Department Store Diamond Plaza. At the entrance to the "Diamond Lounge" on the third floor, a staff member was engaged in conversation with a customer about shopping. Inside, customers could be seen relaxing while enjoying beverages and light refreshments. Equipped with private rooms and a main hall, this exclusive space is reserved solely for top-tier VIP customers. The Korean-style premium customer management practice, which even extends to attending to customers' birthdays, was also being carried out for Vietnamese consumers.

In Vietnam, the unfamiliar Korean-style VIP management has recently begun to yield results. The VIP special shopping event, which is held only four times a year and allows entry exclusively for VIP customers from after regular business hours until 11 p.m., accounts for more than 10% of this store's annual sales due to its large consumption scale. Park Un-eung, team leader at Lotte Department Store Ho Chi Minh City branch, explained, "We manage approximately 1,000 top-tier VIP customers," adding, "They contribute significantly not only in terms of sales but also from an operating profit perspective."

Local customers also praised the upscale atmosphere of the department store. A Vietnamese customer met at the store said, "Lotte Department Store feels more luxurious than other department stores," adding, "It is a popular spot locally because you can also purchase Korean cosmetics."

The Diamond Plaza branch covers an area of approximately 4,500 pyeong (about 14,850 square meters), which is smaller than major domestic department stores, but it has achieved results by strategically placing brands preferred by the local high-income demographic. In particular, the first floor prominently features a luxury concept store of about 200 pyeong (approximately 660 square meters) and global premium cosmetics stores such as Chanel. It attracted not only high-end Korean cosmetics brands like Sulwhasoo and The History of Whoo, but also Jo Malone and Diptyque, which had not previously entered the Vietnamese market.

On the third floor, a golf-specialized space of the largest scale in Ho Chi Minh City has been established. The Korean fashion brand “Hazzys” is also popular here. Team Leader Park stated, “Hazzys is recognized as a premium brand locally,” and explained, “Customer preference remains high even at prices higher than those in Korea.”

The food and beverage outlets were also differentiated. The space includes approximately 2,316 square meters of restaurant area and a 1,320-square-meter terrace garden, featuring TWG Tea and Starbucks Reserve, among others, providing dining and rest areas to encourage customers to stay at the department store.

Korean-grown Shine Muscat at the entrance… "Tteokbokki and gimbap are great"

At the fresh food section on the first floor of the Lotte Mart Nam Sai Gon branch, located in District 7 of Ho Chi Minh City, the first thing that caught the eye upon entering was a local customer selecting Korean Shine Muscat grapes. While Chinese Shine Muscat grapes, commonly seen in Vietnam, are sold for 50,000 to 60,000 dong, Lotte Mart prominently featured the Korean variety, which costs more than twice as much.

Park Dong-hwan, Director of Product Strategy at Lotte Mart, explained that “Korean products are a key differentiator for Lotte Mart,” adding that the company is emphasizing the premium image of Korean-made goods rather than competing on price.

Inside the store, Vietnamese customers were busy selecting items at "Yorihada Kitchen," where gimbap (Korean rice rolls), tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), bulgogi bento boxes, and dakgangjeong (crispy fried chicken) were on display. In addition to Korean cuisine, the store also sells Vietnamese-style fried rice, pho, and sushi, creating an atmosphere where local food can be enjoyed alongside Korean dishes.

A considerable number of customers in the dining area were also seen heating up their purchased food in microwaves before eating. Vietnam is a country with a well-developed culture of dining out and consuming ready-to-eat foods. One customer encountered on site said, smiling, "I often come here because I can heat up and eat the food I buy," adding, "I like tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cakes) and kimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls)."

In the second-floor household goods section, customers were browsing Lotte Mart's private brand (PB) products. One male customer held several garments up to his body multiple times. Some also remarked that "the fabric seems good." Director Park said, "In Korea, there is not much popularity for fashion PBs, but this place is different," adding, "They prefer cost-effective PBs centered on fashion and daily necessities."

Lotte is as committed to fostering coexistence with local communities in Vietnam as it is to expanding its distribution business there. In addition to repairing school facilities and supporting children’s surgeries, the company engages in social contribution activities in Vietnam on par with those conducted domestically, including employees personally taking part in street cleaning efforts. The initiative aims to move beyond the image of a foreign distributor that merely sells products and takes profits, seeking instead to take root in local society.

Lotte Mart is advancing an integrated ESG campaign in Vietnam that encompasses environmental, social, and inclusive growth initiatives. The scope of its activities is diverse, ranging from environmental protection to educational and medical support, as well as expanding market access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Lotte Mart's "Good Today" program is a representative initiative supporting children's education. The company renovated facilities at Hien Van Elementary School in Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam and donated computers for educational use. It also conducted coding classes and Korean fan-making workshops for the students. Additionally, the company provides scholarships to university students in the Ho Chi Minh City area through the Lotte Scholarship Foundation.

The company is also carrying out medical support programs in parallel. It sponsored the international medical aid organization Operation Smile to help fund surgeries for Vietnamese children with cleft lip and palate. Cleft lip and palate is a congenital condition in which the lips or palate are split due to developmental abnormalities during the fetal period. It is rare for foreign companies to run child medical support programs.

Environmental protection activities are fundamental. In June, the company drew attention by conducting a citizen plogging event in the West Lake area of Hanoi, in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. Since April, it has also been working to reduce plastic bag usage by introducing electronic receipts to cut down on the use of hard-to-recycle thermal paper, and offering points to customers who bring eco-friendly shopping bags.

Growing alongside local companies is also one of the localization philosophies held by Lotte Mart. Through the "Global Bridge in Vietnam" event, it supports Korean food and beauty small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in opening up local sales channels, while expanding cooperation with Vietnamese companies and suppliers. Hiring local personnel is a basic principle in the process of opening new stores. For these reasons, Lotte Mart was selected this year for the "Top 10 ESG Companies in Vietnam's Distribution Sector" and the "Top 10 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Companies Leading the Green Transition."

Lotte Department Store is also known as the "street sweeper" in the area around Diamond Plaza in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City. This nickname stems from street cleaning and environmental cleanup campaigns that involve its employees. District 1, a core urban area densely packed with historical and commercial facilities, has long struggled with garbage problems. It is said that local shop owners and residents around the plaza break into smiles when they see people wearing blue vests (Lotte Department Store's street cleanup uniforms) carrying black trash bags.

The company is also making efforts to reduce carbon emissions generated during operations. Employees in engineering and facility management are completing training on greenhouse gas reduction and eco-friendly energy conservation, while also focusing on enhancing their capabilities to improve the building's energy efficiency.

The relationship between Lotte Department Store and Lotte Mart is that they “plan to continue environmental protection, education and medical support, and mutual growth activities with partner companies, while expanding their engagement with the Vietnamese community.”

"We are opening new stores every year."

Shin Ju-baek, head of Lotte Mart’s Vietnam subsidiary (top photo), identified new store openings as the key direction for Lotte Mart’s local business. He outlined plans to introduce stores tailored to commercial districts in major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Lotte Mart resumed new store openings after a three-year hiatus by opening its Tay Ninh branch in southern Vietnam and its Bac Giang branch in the north last July. Since opening its first store at Nam Sai Gon in Ho Chi Minh City in 2008, the company currently operates 17 stores across Vietnam.

The new factory director explained that the growth of the company's business in Vietnam served as the backdrop for its store expansion. He noted that revenue has increased year-on-year every quarter since 2022, and that sales at existing stores have also recorded double-digit growth rates.

"Edible goods" are a powerful weapon for Lotte Mart. While non-food consumption, such as home appliances and daily necessities, has shifted to e-commerce, demand for fresh food and ready-to-eat products continues to drive customers directly to stores. For this reason, following the Hanoi Center store in 2024, Lotte Mart revamped its Da Nang and Nha Trang stores into grocery-centric locations earlier this year. As a result, both sales and customer numbers increased at the renovated stores.

He cited Lotte Mart's competitive strengths as its 18 years of experience in procuring Korean products locally and operating grocery stores, along with synergies with group affiliates. The company plans to develop the specialized grocery store model validated in Korea to suit Vietnam's consumer culture.

In contrast, department stores, which have driven their business primarily through premium customers, are moving to broaden their customer base. Lee Hee-seung, the store manager of Lotte Department Store’s Ho Chi Minh City branch, outlined the company’s future direction as a shift toward stay-oriented spaces that go beyond shopping.

The location the store manager is focusing on is the office commercial area surrounding the department store. Within a five-minute walk from Diamond Plaza, high-end office complexes such as Deutsche House and M Plaza are densely clustered. To attract the foot traffic of local office workers and business clients, efforts are underway to bring in well-known F&B brands with proven track records of drawing customers. The strategy is to transform the space into a destination for dining and relaxation, not just for shopping.

The building’s exterior also serves as a tool for attracting new customers. The store decorates its facade and outdoor plaza during major seasons such as Christmas and Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, to encourage visits from local residents and tourists. The store explained that this exterior presentation has spread on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram as a popular spot for photo posts, contributing to securing a younger customer base.

The fortune teller stated, “The brand trust and loyalty of our best local customers, who have supported us across generations, are very solid,” adding, “Building on our existing base of premium customers, we will expand F&B and cultural content to develop Diamond Plaza into a shopping and cultural landmark in Ho Chi Minh City.”