There is a strong trend towards tech-driven retail in Vietnam to help increase operational efficiency, enhance customer experience, and prevent losses.

Christanto Suryadarma, sales vice president for Southeast Asia (SEA), South Korea, and Channel APJeC at Zebra Technologies, said that Vietnam’s economy is strong and growing rapidly, with increasing prosperity driving retail spending. Retailers are leveraging this growth by embracing technology—using online platforms, e-commerce solutions, and other innovations.

Photo: Zebra

He told VIR at a media briefing on February 18 that he sees much more attention from retailers on technology applications for loss prevention.

“For retailers, profit margins are significantly smaller compared to other industries. So, any loss they experience in retail directly impacts their already thin profits. It makes a lot of sense that loss prevention has become a major priority, and I’ve observed a significant increase in this focus. After COVID, with more customers returning to physical stores, losses are happening more frequently in-store than through e-commerce. So, naturally, the attention on loss prevention has grown,” he explained.

“The second trend I am noticing is an increasing interest in AI. I think all resellers are aware of AI’s potential, and there is a growing expectation for more use cases to emerge,” he shared.

Christanto Suryadarma, Sales vice president for Southeast Asia (SEA), South Korea, and Channel APJeC, Zebra Technologies. Photo: Zebra

George Pepes, APAC Vertical Solutions Lead, Healthcare and Retail, Zebra Technologies added, “Retailers are now starting to digitise their operations more effectively. In the past, when we talked about digitising retail, it was mainly about streamlining processes for staff to keep costs low. But now, retailers need to adapt to change.”

Technology application trend

According to the findings of the 17^th Annual Global Shopper Study announced by Zebra Technologies Corporation on February 18, the majority of retail associates (84 per cent globally, and 72 per cent in Asia-Pacific) are concerned about the lack of technology deployed to spot safety threats or criminal activity.

As shown in the study, most retailers (78 per cent globally, 80 per cent in Asia-Pacific) are under high pressure to minimise theft and loss and are now investing in technology tools that can help frontline workers and those managing operations behind the scenes.

AI technologies are currently viewed as the most helpful in loss prevention, closely followed by cameras, sensors, and RFID. While only three in ten retailers (38 per cent globally and in Asia-Pacific) currently use AI-based prescriptive analytics for loss prevention, more than half (50 per cent globally, 52 per cent in Asia-Pacific) plan to implement it in the next one to three years for this purpose.

Over three in ten retailers said they also plan to use self-checkout cameras and sensors (45 per cent globally, 52 per cent in Asia-Pacific), computer vision (46 per cent globally and in Asia-Pacific), and RFID tags and readers (42 per cent globally, 38 per cent in Asia-Pacific) within the next three years, specifically for loss prevention.

This should come as a relief to shoppers, as 78 per cent said it is frustrating when products are locked up or secured within cases. Adding to that frustration, 70 per cent of consumers say it is difficult to find an associate while shopping in stores. This resonates with 79 per cent and 70 per cent of Asia-Pacific shoppers, respectively.

Photo: Zebra

Increasingly over the past two years, one in five shoppers (21 per cent globally, 22 per cent in Asia-Pacific) left a store without getting what they needed due to a lack of available retail associates to help.

Growing demands

According to the study, although consumers remain generally satisfied with their shopping experience and global consumer spending remains steady, fewer shoppers overall are satisfied compared to previous years. In 2023, 85 per cent were satisfied with both in-store and online experiences—this stood at 81 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively, for Asia-Pacific shoppers. In 2024, satisfaction declined to 81 per cent for in-store experiences and 79 per cent for online shopping, with Asia-Pacific shoppers reporting 78 per cent and 75 per cent satisfaction, respectively.

Most shoppers now expect retailers to offer seamless click-and-collect and returns options. However, retailers (79 per cent globally, 85 per cent in Asia-Pacific) and associates (85 per cent globally and in Asia-Pacific) admit they face challenges in managing both. Many retailers also struggle with confirming current inventory and pricing. With more shoppers returning to stores, lingering labour shortages and increasing loss incidents are further impacting service levels.

Nearly 90 per cent of retail associates believe they can provide a better customer experience when they have mobile technology tools that help simplify real-time communication, prioritise tasks, and check prices and inventory. Most retailers agree that technology enables associates to perform their jobs more effectively, and as a result, 75 per cent of global retailers (79 per cent in Asia-Pacific) said they plan to increase their technology investments in 2025.

Vietnam’s retail sector is rapidly advancing its digital transformation, with retailers embracing data-driven strategies and diversified sales channels to cut costs and streamline operations. In Vietnam, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services saw a year-on-year increase of 8.5 per cent, reaching over $207.5 billion from January to October 2024, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has also forecast the country’s retail market to reach $350 billion by 2025, underscoring the sector’s robust trajectory.

“Many retailers in Vietnam are laying the groundwork to build a modern store experience,” said Christanto Suryadarma, sales vice president for Southeast Asia (SEA), South Korea, and Channel APJeC at Zebra Technologies. “By investing in mobile and intelligent technologies to provide greater visibility, inform operational decisions, and enable greater mobility for associates, this contributes to elevating the customer experience for retail’s long-term success. These efforts are transforming the retail landscape in Vietnam, positioning local businesses to harness the potential of Zebra Technologies to optimise operations and adapt to evolving market demands.”

Along with enhancing customer experience, the study shows that retailers’ top priorities include improving mobile workforce efficiency, productivity, and inventory management. More than one-third (39 per cent globally, 41 per cent in Asia-Pacific) believe that GenAI will have an extremely significant impact on inventory management and demand forecasting.

Retailers are also investing in automation for product location and item-level RFID (46 per cent globally and in Asia-Pacific), video monitoring (45 per cent globally, 36 per cent in Asia-Pacific), and stock-out alerts (45 per cent globally, 49 per cent in Asia-Pacific) to give associates and shoppers real-time inventory visibility, which is a key driver of profitability.

“By implementing advanced technologies like the ET4x Android business tablets, TC22/27 mobile computers, SP72 series single-plane scanners, RS2100 Bluetooth wearable scanner, FX7500 fixed RFID reader, and RFD40 UHF RFID sleds, retailers can better navigate today’s business challenges,” added Suryadarma.