Specifically, net revenue in December reached VND 3,557 billion, up 19.0% year-on-year, exceeding the company’s average growth target and highlighting a clear acceleration during the year-end peak season. Like-for-like (LFL) revenue increased 8.6%, indicating that growth was driven not only by new store openings but also by improving productivity at existing stores.
December also recorded the highest number of new store openings in the company’s history, bringing total new openings in 2025 to 764 stores, exceeding the high end of the company’s guidance range of 400-700 stores. Rural WinMart+ accounted for nearly 80% of new openings, reflecting the accelerated penetration strategy into rural markets and its positive contribution to growth. Notably, 90.3% of stores opened during the year have surpassed store-level EBITDA breakeven, demonstrating that expansion is being accompanied by improving profitability rather than purely scale-driven growth.
Retail Enters Its Most Significant Transformation in a Decade
Shifts in consumer behavior from urban to peri-urban and rural areas are creating new opportunities for modern retail chains. As transparency regulations continue to tighten, operators that have stronger control over their supply chains-such as WinCommerce (WCM), a subsidiary of Masan Group (HOSE: MSN)-are well positioned to help shape modern consumption standards outside major cities while strengthening their position as a large-scale domestic retail platform.
Vietnam’s retail market is undergoing its deepest structural transformation in more than a decade. The boundary between traditional and modern retail is no longer confined to major urban centers but is rapidly expanding into suburban and rural areas. This shift is driven not only by demand for convenience, but also by a broad change in consumer preferences, with shoppers increasingly prioritizing product traceability and price stability. This period represents a critical inflection point, as distribution channels undergo structural rebalancing, laying the foundation for new consumption standards in Vietnam.
This transformation is supported by resilient domestic demand, with the consumer sector continuing to contribute meaningfully to economic growth. Retail sales of goods in 2025 are estimated at VND 5,335.1 trillion, accounting for 76.1% of total retail sales, and growing 8.0% year-on-year. Nevertheless, analysts believe the market remains in the early stages of modernization. With modern trade penetration currently at approximately 19%, medium-term growth potential remains significant. As trust in quality becomes a more decisive purchasing factor, retail models with standardized operating systems are well positioned to capture the gaps left by fragmented traditional channels.
Policy developments are also accelerating this transition in a more systematic manner. The implementation of Decree No. 70/2025/ND-CP on e-invoicing and national programs promoting Vietnamese products under Decision No. 2269/QD-BCT are enhancing market transparency. These regulations tend to favor operators that have already standardized processes and strengthened quality control. As transparency becomes a structural requirement, the key challenge for retailers lies in their ability to adapt business models and execution speed to meet rising market expectations.
WinCommerce and the Challenge of Scaling with Operational Efficiency
In its pursuit of leadership positioning, WinCommerce is focused on translating network scale into operating efficiency nationwide. Rather than concentrating solely on urban cores, the chain is leveraging its footprint of nearly 4,600 stores to serve diverse residential areas ranging from cities to peri-urban communities. With a target of serving approximately 1.5 million customer visits per day, WinCommerce’s strategy is anchored on the principle of network synergies, whereby improvements in assortment optimization or service processes can be amplified across thousands of stores.
WinCommerce’s progress is also reflected in its commitment to financial discipline during expansion. From operating losses in 2019, the company’s ambition to achieve approximately VND 1,000 billion in positive EBIT by 2025 underscores a meaningful shift in operating management capabilities. In retail, rapid network expansion often comes with significant cost pressures; therefore, the ability to maintain profitability at the store level is a critical indicator of sustainable growth. This highlights WinCommerce’s strategic focus on balancing scale expansion with long-term economic sustainability.
A further pillar of this strategy lies in investments in supply chain infrastructure. With a network of 18 ambient and cold warehouses, the company is increasing its level of vertical control, supporting tighter cost management and improving on-shelf availability. Partial ownership of the supply chain is viewed as a key lever to optimize cost structures and ensure consistency in customer experience-a pathway previously adopted by leading regional retailers such as CPAll and Alfamart to strengthen their domestic market positions.
Looking ahead to the 2025-2026 expansion roadmap, WinCommerce’s objective is to complete a full operating loop from supply chain management to consumer trust optimization. Successfully managing operational complexity at scale is expected to reinforce the company’s positioning as a leading domestic retail platform. If modernization trends continue to unfold as anticipated, retailers with strong operational foundations are likely to secure sustainable competitive positioning within Vietnam’s evolving consumer landscape.