Furniture market to see increased competition

Central Retail, a large Thai retailer, recently launched its Come Home brand, a furniture and home decor business in SC VivoCity, a shopping centre located in District 7 in HCM City last month.

Come Home is one of Central Retail's major projects in Vietnam and a key part of the group's US$1 billion investment in the Southeast Asian economy.

A representative from Central Retail said the group has full confidence in Vietnam's market potential for growth based on its own research, which projected the market's revenue to reach $1.4 billion by the end of this year.

In addition, the market has shown an annual growth rate of about 10 per cent during the period of 2023-2027 with a large portion of the growth contributed to living room furniture, estimated at $523 million for this year alone. Other segments including bedroom furniture and decorative items are experiencing rapid growth, according to the group's data.

The group said despite an ongoing global economic downturn and diminishing purchasing power, there is still strong demand for furniture in the Vietnam market, fuelled by a strong movement of modernisation and personalisation in the living space.

The Thai retail group isn't the only international brand setting up shops in Vietnam in the last few years, hoping to capitalise on the market's explosive development, lower tariffs, improved trade environment and logistics, said experts.

JYSK, an international retail chain from Denmark specialising in providing Nordic - Scandinavian style decoration and furniture, opened a new store in the Indochina Plaza Hanoi Residences in the capital city.

Since its debut into the Vietnam market in 2015, JYSK has been constantly expanding its collection of product offerings including interior furnishings, decorations, household items, bedding and mattresses, as well as balcony and garden outdoor furniture.

The Danish retail chain is currently running 12 stores across the country, according to a JYSK's representative.

As international brands start making an impact on the domestic market, domestic brands have been wasting no time improving their products' quality to better position themselves to retain and gain more market share.

For example, Hoa Phat's interior furniture, traditionally a mid-range segment player in office furniture, has introduced The One chain, an upscale store aiming at the mid-to-high-end segment of the market in April this year.

"There are currently several interior furniture brands competing for this segment such as A Concept, Baya, MOHO, JYSK, Nhà Xinh, Index Living Mall, Chilai, BoConcept - Premium Furniture, and Sonder Living. Many Vietnamese customers have shown their preference for imported products including Scandinavian, European, and Japanese brands", said Trang Lê, an interior design consultant from HCM City.

According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the scale of the Vietnamese furniture market is expected to expand from $1.4 billion in 2023 to $1.82 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.33 per cent during the period.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian economy's wood export turnover has been increasing in size as the country's wood sector transformed into a future global product hub thanks to its strong raw material industries. Vietnamese furniture products have been well-received in over 120 countries including major markets such as the US, the EU, the UK, Canada, Japan and Australia.

Source: VNS