A woman in HCM City receive goods ordered on the Grab app. Food orders from traditional markets are now available on the Grab app. — VNS Photo Thu Ngân

HCM CITY — Grab Vietnam is offering customers a service that provides orders for goods from traditional markets on its Grab app in HCM City, Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng.

The company said that digitising sales of traditional markets was part of its programme to help small merchants in traditional markets across the country reach new customers in the "new normal" period.

The initiative is a part of Grab's mission in the community to contribute to the development of the digital economy and offer more positive socio-economic changes for all Vietnamese.

The digitisation of traditional markets also creates additional income opportunities for drivers, adding options for purchase of food and essential goods for customers, especially during the year-end shopping season and the upcoming Lunar New Year. 

“The Covid-19 pandemic is creating many drastic changes, and at the same time, it is also placing pressure on all sectors of the economy to digitally transform, especially traditional businesses and small businesses which mainly operate on offline platforms,”  said Nguyễn Thái Hải Vân, Managing Director of Grab Vietnam.

Việt Nam is the third country in Southeast Asia where Grab has launched the initiative of traditional market digitalisation.

Currently, GrabMart is offering practical benefits to nearly 100 small merchants at traditional markets in Đà Nẵng, Hà Nội and HCM City. The company aims to increase the number of small merchants in these three cities tenfold by the end of 2021.

Although modern retail channels such as supermarkets and convenience stores are strongly on the rise, traditional retail channels such as markets and grocery stores are still at a stable level of development. 

According to Nielsen data, Việt Nam has about 1.4 million grocery stores and 9,000 traditional markets, accounting for 75 per cent of market share, with a turnover of around $10 billion annually. According to Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, traditional retail channels still meet 85 per cent of consumer demand. — VNS