HO CHI MINH CITY — Lotte Group is transplanting the retail know-how and product and service capabilities it built at home into Vietnam. From premium department store strategies to fresh-food sourcing at discount stores and Korean-style customer service, the group is pushing deeper into local consumers' daily routines and expanding the reach of Korean retail.
Lotte Department Store's Ho Chi Minh City outlet has upgraded its local VIP program, applying the membership tiers and customer management system it has run in Korea to the Vietnamese market, according to retail industry sources on the 12th. The outlet hosts private invitation-only events for local VIP customers after the store closes and offers travel programs to resort destinations such as Da Nang through partnership promotions. The strategy is to widen the gap with rival department stores by bringing a Korean premium experience to local VIP shoppers.
Lotte Hotel is leading with Korean-style service. The company applied the service training system used at its hotels in Korea directly to its Vietnamese operations. Lotte Hotel Saigon assigns a separate service training officer to each department. Those officers stay in regular contact with headquarters in Korea, while local training managers pass Korean service practices and culture on to staff.
"The fact that Korea's distinctive courteous and honest service is being delivered well here is what sets us apart from competitors," said Kim Dong-in, a team leader at Lotte Hotel Saigon. "Our goal is to maximize new membership sign-ups, which are critical to the hotel's continued growth, on the strength of Korean-style service."
Lotte Mart handles fresh food. Logistics infrastructure such as cold chains is underdeveloped in Vietnam, making it a challenge to keep produce at a consistent level of freshness on the way from farms to stores. In response, Lotte Mart expanded direct sourcing from farms and improved packaging methods for individual items. The "FRESH 365" label attached to its products is understood locally as Lotte Mart's guarantee of freshness and has won customer trust.
The company is also developing new products, introducing items suited to Vietnamese tastes and lifestyles while maintaining Korean quality control standards. "For private-label goods, we improve 200 existing products and develop 200 new ones each year, bringing out a total of 400 new items," an official at Lotte Mart's South Saigon store said.
"Lotte's biggest strength in Vietnamese retail is trust," a Lotte Group official said. "Building on the trust we have accumulated locally over the past 30 years, we are combining each affiliate's core capabilities with localization strategies to reach further into the daily lives of Vietnamese consumers."
