Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi raises $75 mn in sales in four months

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin in Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi [Courtesy of Lotte Group]

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, a shopping complex in Vietnam, has established itself as a hot spot with sales exceeding 100 billion won ($75 million) in just 122 days since opening.

This success, achieved 26 years after Lotte Group’s entry into Vietnam in 1998, is attributed to effectively addressing the lack of large-scale comprehensive commercial facilities amid the rising income levels and shopping demands of the young people due to economic growth.

On Monday, Lotte Department Store announced that Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi achieved cumulative sales of 100 billion won on January 21, about four months after its opening in September 2023.

The total number of visitors exceeded 5 million, indicating that two out of three people in Hanoi, with a population of 8.4 million, have visited the complex. The cumulative purchase count from visitors reached over 600,000.

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi is a large-scale commercial complex embodying Lotte Group’s determination to present the Vietnamese version of Lotte Town, combining shopping malls, a supermarket, hotel, aquarium, and a cinema.

With a floor area of about 354,000 square meters, it stands as Lotte’s largest among its four stores in Southeast Asia—three in Vietnam and one in Indonesia.

This achievement has also been acknowledged as a leading example in the market by Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who praised Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi during the first-half Value Creation Meeting (VCM) attended by group presidents on January 18.

Shin’s praise for Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi holds symbolic significance, considering the accomplishment in Vietnam, referred to as the battleground for global retail giants.

As Lotte has practically withdrawn from its operations in China, the company is now looking to Vietnam for potential overseas revenue to replace it.

Moreover, with the declining population in South Korea and the struggle of domestic retail affiliates in sales, the relatively youthful Vietnamese market, with an average age of 32 among its 100 million population, appears appealing to Lotte.

Hanoi is witnessing fierce competition among global retail giants. Notable shopping malls competing with Lotte include Vincom Royal City/Times City, AEON Mall Ha Dong/Long Bien.

Vincom Mall is operated by Vietnam’s Vingroup while AEON Mall is owned by AEON Group, the largest retail group in Asia with stores across Japan.

The success in exceeding 100 billion won in sales is attributed to the young population of Hanoi. Lotte has curated 85 specialty stores out of 233 brands in the shopping mall, catering to the local preferences that were not readily available.

One of the top-performing stores among the youth is Lush, a brand previously only accessible through overseas purchases.

The word-of-mouth spread through social media platforms, especially on Facebook, the most popular SNS in Vietnam, has contributed to the increase in the number of customers.