THE GREAT VIETNAM CVS LANDSCAPE 2026
2 LEADERS. 5 DIFFERENT SHOPPER MISSIONS.
Following the article "7 Retailers – 7 Growth Roles"—which garnered significant interest from professionals in Retail, Brand, Sales, and Marketing—MH is now diving deeper into a format undergoing rapid transformation:
👉 Convenience Stores (CVS)
This time, however, MH wants to look beyond the usual metrics:
Who has the most stores?
Who is expanding the fastest?
Who holds the #1 spot?
Instead, the goal is to ask a different question:
Which shopper mission is each CVS chain "winning"?
The current landscape can be viewed through two distinct lenses:
🔴 CIRCLE K – Market Leader
500+ stores
The Everyday Convenience Engine
Location × 24/7 × Traffic × Impulse
🔵 GS25 – Strong Growth & Experience Player
400+ stores
The Food & Experience Engine
K-Food × RTE (Ready-to-Eat) × Youth × Experience
While these two leading brands carry significant weight in the CVS market, the other chains still play vital roles.
In fact, every player is striving to establish its own unique "reason-to-visit":
🟢 FamilyMart
Daily Food & Habit
🟡 Ministop
Fresh & Ready-to-Eat
🟠 7-Eleven
Global Food & Occasion
🟢 B’s Mart
Neighborhood Top-up
🔵 Cheers
Local / Niche Convenience
What MH finds most interesting:
CVS is no longer simply about:
"Buy something quickly → Leave."
It is gradually evolving into:
Eat → Drink → Grab & Go → Experience → Repeat.
Therefore, the game ahead isn't just about store expansion.
It hinges on:
Location.
→ Shopper Mission.
→ Assortment.
→ Food & Beverage.
→ Price & Pack.
→ Visibility.
→ Activation.
→ Data & Insight.
→ Store Productivity. For FMCG brands, don’t just ask:
“Which CVS chains should we list with?”
Instead, ask:
“Which shopper mission are we trying to win?”
Because while they are all CVS chains, Circle K, GS25, FamilyMart, Ministop, and 7-Eleven are not the same. One CVS chain does not equal one single role.
One shopper does not equal one single occasion.
That is why I want to look at the entire CVS landscape, rather than focusing solely on the top one or two players.
Size tells you who is big.
Strategy tells you where to play.
Store count and market share figures are sourced from retail/market research and company announcements; reporting periods and definitions may vary.
This article is a personal compilation intended for general reference by interested professionals and is not for commercial use.
#VietnamRetail #CVS #MT #FMCG #ShopperMission #MHLeadershipTips