Why isn't it sold in Vietnam?

[ASEAN: So Close, Yet So Far

[ASEAN: So Close, Yet So Far]
- 26. Why isn't it sold in Vietnam?

Many Koreans who visit Vietnam come up with business ideas like, ‘It would be good to bring this or that product from Korea and sell it in Vietnam.’ However, someone must have thought the same thing in Vietnam, where 200,000 Koreans live in Vietnam and about 9,000 Korean companies operate there. It is highly likely that someone had already tried it, but for some reason it did not fit the Vietnamese market and sales were sluggish. I introduce ‘products that surprisingly do not sell well in Vietnam’ that many people are curious about and analyze the reasons for them.

1. Sunscreen

Because Vietnam is a hot Sunny country, many people think from the moment they leave airport  that sunscreen sells well in Vietnam. However, contrary to popular belief, sunscreen does not sell well in Vietnam. According to the <2022 Suncare Market Report> by global research company MarketLine, the size of Vietnam's suncare market is $124.12 million (KRW 166 billion), which is only 20% of Korea's $584.9 million (KRW 782.6 billion).. 

Considering that Vietnam enjoys hot sunlight all year round and that the population is 100 million, twice that of Korea, Vietnamese people's consumption of sunscreen is much lower than that of Korea. When Koreans hear this, they even make racist responses such as, ‘I guess they don’t use sunscreen because they can’t survive in Vietnam’ or ‘because their skin is dark.’ However, Vietnamese women traditionally recognize white skin as a prerequisite for beauty. So, to avoid being exposed to the harsh sunlight, people wear masks and sunglasses that cover their faces, as well as the so-called ‘ninja’ outfit to block their limbs from the sun. 

When Vietnamese women go to lunch, they use an umbrella or spread out their outerwear like a tent to avoid being exposed to the sun, even for just a few minutes. Looking at the situation so far, it is easy to think that the reason the market is not large even though the demand for sunscreen appears to be very strong is because of ‘income level’. The easiest trap to fall into when analyzing the Vietnamese market is this ‘low income’ bias.

Vietnamese woemen change to Ninja for protect Sun

  I have been working in the cosmetics industry for 19 years, believes that the main reason why the Vietnamese sunscreen market has not grown is because of ‘the social environment of having to ride a motorcycle due to insufficient public transportation facilities.’ Vietnam is a country with a population of 100 million and 70 million registered motorcycles, and the majority of people ride motorcycles. 

If you apply sticky sunscreen to your face in this environment, dust and air pollutants will stick to your face. In addition, it is inconvenient because the sunscreen is washed off by the sweat flowing from the hot weather and the frequent rain. Everyone tries to perceive the situation based on the background they know, and although it is said that applying sunscreen is basic in Korea, there is no country in the world that applies sunscreen as diligently as Koreans. If you use Korea as a standard when understanding overseas markets, you are bound to end up in failure. Of course, if the problem is Vietnam's public transportation infrastructure, which is somewhat lacking in economic capacity, it may be said that 'money is the problem'. However, this does not mean that ‘Vietnamese consumers cannot purchase sunscreen because they do not have money.’

2. Contact lenses

 14 years ago, when I first lived in Vietnam, there were many Vietnamese women who wore glasses, so I assumed that as income levels increased, there would be a shift from glasses to contact lenses and the market size would grow as Korea. However, even after 10 years, the Vietnamese contact lens market is growing slowly.

According to <Vietnam Contact Lens Market Insight> by global research company Statista, the Vietnamese contact lens market, which was worth $44.34 million (KRW 59.2 billion) in 2018, is expected to grow to $52.77 million (KRW 70.5 billion) in 2023, an average annual growth rate of 3.8% over the five years. It couldn't grow outside. In comparison, the Korean contact lens market, which is only half of Vietnam's population, is more than six times that of Vietnam. According to the <Korean Glasses Market> report published in February 2024 by Chinese research company Dauxue Consulting, Korea's contact lens market in 2023 is worth $340 million (KRW 454.2 billion). At the time, the author also fell into the error of predicting the market simply based on ‘income level’. However, as I learned more about Vietnam, I realized that the reason Vietnamese women did not prefer contact lenses was because ‘Vietnamese society does not perceive women wearing glasses negatively.’ This can be checked by comparing Korea and Japan.

In April 2018, social controversy arose over Korea TV station MBC announcer Lim Hyun-joo wearing glasses while presenting the news. It is okay for male announcers to wear glasses, but the absurd perception that female announcers should not wear glasses was taken for granted throughout Korean society. The serious discriminatory perception against women still remains in Korean society among some taxi drivers, who say, ‘It’s bad luck to pick up a woman wearing glasses as her first customer.’ Japan is also in a similar situation. 

VTV announcer, Ms.  Lan anh

In November 2019, NHK covered a social media controversy protesting a Japanese restaurant's ban on wearing glasses while hiring female employees. Numerous Japanese female office workers have testified that they are prohibited from wearing glasses at work. At the same time, it was reported that NHK does not have a single female announcer who wears glasses.

Due to this negative social perception of women wearing glasses, the use of contact lenses or vision correction surgery such as LASIK surgery appears to have become common in Korea and Japan.

 According to the Korean Myopia Society Symposium held in January 2024, the prevalence of myopia in Korea is 80-90%, but it is not easy to see women wearing glasses. In contrast, Vietnamese female announcers naturally wear glasses and present news. In Vietnam, women who wear glasses are not degraded or show negative signs, but doing so would result in criticism from the entire country and society.

 Another reason why the contact lens market is not growing further in Vietnam is because of the culture of riding motorcycles. Dust often gets into the lenses while driving a motorcycle, and when the wind blows, the eyes quickly dry out, causing the lenses to fall off and being exposed to rain, which is bound to be uncomfortable.

In addition to sunscreen and contact lenses, products that are difficult to sell in Vietnam due to the motorcycle culture include hair wax, gel, and spray for styling hair. Since you have to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle, no matter how cool your hair is, it is of no use.

When looking at the markets of other countries, there are many things that cannot be understood through numbers alone. This is why we must look into the country’s culture, customs, and social environment.