
With the opening of the first UNIQLO store in Ho Chi Minh City on December 6, brands have diversified, and with Mini Coopers on the streets, the clusters of consumers have become more diverse. In terms of automobiles, it is no longer enough to have a cluster that buys Toyota, Kia, and Mazda.
In the midst of this trend, I would like to report that the awareness of "premium" is spreading among young people, and consumer awareness and behavior are also changing.
In November 2019, Intage Vietnam conducted an independent survey on "Young People's Attitudes" (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi 23~38 years old: 459 samples in total). The top three areas in which they would like to spend more money in the future are tourism and travel (38%), food and drink (35%), and working out (27%), in that order.
Looking at the number one category, "Tourism/Travel," 67% of respondents traveled to "Southeast Asia" in the past year, but the percentage of those who intend to travel within the next year is on a downward trend at 41%. On the other hand, for "Other Asia (East Asia including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan)," 52% of respondents traveled in the past year, while 58% intend to travel within the next year, which is an upward trend.
We also asked about purchase intentions during overseas travel. The number one purchase that young people make while traveling is "purchasing premium products at overseas shopping malls" (49%), followed by "purchasing through hand-carry services" (43%) and "purchasing at destinations with many shopping options" (23%).
It is likely that the "premium consciousness" of young Vietnamese will continue to grow, and that inbound demand from the Japanese side will shift from Chinese to Vietnamese, resulting in a shift in strategy.
Source: Monthly magazine ACCESS (February 2020 issue)
A report on the lifestyle of young people in Vietnam can be found at
here.