신동빈 롯데그룹 회장(가운데)이 지난 23일 신유열(왼쪽) 롯데지주 미래성장실장과 함께 베트남 하노이에 위치한 롯데몰 웨스트레이크 하노이 롯데마트 매장을 둘러보고 있다.
[Insight Korea = Kim Ho-jin]
Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, is seeking to transplant the success formula of “Lotte Town” to Vietnam, one of the group’s most important overseas markets. The strategy centers on breaking down barriers among Lotte affiliates and creating integrated synergies across retail, food, hospitality and urban development.
According to industry sources on April 27, Shin visited Hanoi, Vietnam, from April 21 to 24 for his first overseas field management trip of the year. He was joined by a number of senior group executives, including Shin Yu-yeol, vice president of Lotte Holdings and Shin’s eldest son, as well as Jung Hyun-seok, chief executive of Lotte Department Store.
The trip was more than a routine inspection of overseas operations. It underscored Vietnam’s growing status as a “post-domestic market” growth base for Lotte as the group seeks to overcome the limits of Korea’s mature retail market. It also signaled Shin’s determination to establish Lotte Town, the group’s signature mixed-use development model, as a global standard.
Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, which opened in September 2023, is one of the group’s flagship projects and was closely overseen by Shin from the planning stage. The complex surpassed 30 million cumulative visitors within nine months of opening, quickly establishing itself as a local landmark. Its cumulative sales reached 600 billion won by the end of last year, and it is widely expected to exceed 1 trillion won this year.
“Vietnam is a core base for Lotte’s global business,” Shin said during the visit. He called on executives to strengthen the competitiveness of the group’s main businesses, including retail and food, while also exploring new growth areas such as advanced urban development and next-generation logistics.
Exporting the Lotte Town Formula From Jamsil and Sogong-dong
At the heart of the trip was Lotte’s effort to export the mixed-use development expertise it has refined in Korea. The group is seeking to turn the success of its Hanoi mall from a one-off achievement into a repeatable corporate playbook, with plans to expand the model across Vietnam.
The strength of the Lotte Town model is already visible in Lotte Shopping’s recent earnings. In the fourth quarter of 2025, its domestic department store business posted sales of 882.4 billion won, supported by strong foot traffic at major flagship locations such as its main store in Sogong-dong and its Jamsil branch. Operating profit rose 22.0 percent year on year to 220.4 billion won. Foreign customer sales, led by the Lotte Town clusters in Jamsil and Myeong-dong, surged 43.2 percent from a year earlier, helping drive overall growth.
“The model in which affiliates gather in one place and generate synergies, as seen in Jamsil Lotte Tower and Sogong-dong, is working successfully in Vietnam as well,” a Lotte Holdings official said. “Based on successful cases in Korea, Lotte is applying its own growth formula to the Vietnamese market.”
In Hanoi, the effects are already apparent. The department store business posted its highest quarterly profit, while the discount store business recorded a 15 percent increase in same-store sales, pointing to simultaneous growth across Lotte’s retail affiliates.
Lotte Shopping’s consolidated fourth-quarter revenue in 2025 stood at 3.5218 trillion won, with operating profit rising 54.7 percent year on year to 227.7 billion won. Its overseas business generated 382.2 billion won in revenue, up 11.2 percent from a year earlier, while operating profit surged 180.2 percent to 23.7 billion won. The figures suggest that Lotte’s strategy of combining shopping, supermarkets, hotels and cultural facilities into a single destination — capturing more of consumers’ time — is gaining traction.
The presence of working-level executives from key affiliates, including department stores and supermarkets, indicates that Lotte is now trying to systematize the Hanoi model. Shin Yu-yeol attended Shin Dong-bin’s meetings with local officials, while Jung Hyun-seok and retail executives focused on adapting the operational know-how of Korea’s leading retailer to local stores.
A key part of that strategy is the overseas rollout of Lotte Shopping’s push to strengthen its food business, especially fresh food and private-label products.
Lotte plans to reinforce its retail presence in Southeast Asia through store renovations and new openings that reflect the strengths of its domestic grocery business. With Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi showing clear signs of improved performance, the group aims to transfer the same operating system to follow-up projects, including those in Ho Chi Minh City, and maximize “One Lotte” synergies.
Building on its success in Hanoi, Lotte also plans to accelerate large-scale mixed-use development projects, including the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Thiem district. During his visit to Hanoi, Shin met with senior Vietnamese officials to discuss urban development and investment cooperation, personally working to improve the business environment for future projects.
“This visit was aimed at reviewing the performance of a key global strategic base and checking market conditions,” a Lotte official said. “Through field-oriented management, the group will strengthen its fundamentals and secure future growth engines.”
-This article was translated by ChatGPT. (이 기사는 챗GPT가 번역했습니다.)
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