The watch market in Vietnam is estimated to be worth around VND17 trillion (US$729 million), according to the PNJ research division. The market, however, is highly fragmented and also very "all over the place" when it comes to products’ origin, stated the Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC).
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Few world renowned watch makers are selling in Vietnam with a handful of authorized retailers and service centers. Large demand with short supply creates an ideal environment for fake products, a long-lasting problem in the watch industry. It is very difficult for non-expert users to check the authenticity and Vietnamese buyers often just bet on the store’s name.
Browsing around available shopping locations, VDSC said that most retailers (including domestic ones and overseas websites) mainly focus on male customers, with 60-70% of their products are male watches and around 60% of watches price above VND10 million (US$429) (mid and high price segments).
Meanwhile, PNJ and Doji focus on female clients. Most of these are targeted at female: 63% for PNJ and 87% for Doji. It is understandable as these are jewelry retailers and target women. Having piloting this segment since 2012, PNJ offers quite a varied range of watches: nearly 1,000 models from nine brands. Doji is a new comer with only 45 models from two brands.
Overall, these two both aim the low-end segment with 75% of PNJ’s and 100% of Doji’s watches priced under VND10 million. It actually makes sense, considering Vietnamese female watch wearers tend to prioritize the look and price. Therefore, paying more than VND10 million (US$429) for a watch (which is just a single item of their jewelry sets) seems unreasonable for most.
After all, the majority of the market share still belongs to mom-and-pop stores. While the demand for watches is large, it is not just for authentic products, those are still pricy for the majority of Vietnamese.
Customers willing to buy fake watches just for showing-off purpose is also a drawback. Moreover, the fact that watches are pretty durable and do not require much taking-care also encourage people to buy them online and overseas, where stores usually offer at significantly cheaper prices. Hence, even though the market is a “no man’s land”, it is not easy to get to, the brokerage concluded.
