Nguyễn Văn Nam – DS180402

Modern life comes with the strong development of technology, with a daily lifestyle.

As we get busier, many people no longer have enough time to cook like before. Instead,

they are willing to pay more to order food online. The online food delivery market in

Vietnam has witnessed the birth and development of many famous brands, creating fierce

and uncompromising competition. In June 2019, Baemin - a leading Korean food

ordering application officially entered the Vietnamese market after acquiring the online

food trading platform Vietnammm.com. Appearing quite late compared to many other

food delivery and delivery names, BAEMIN has made a good impression and attracted

the attention of a large number of users with its "mint blue army" that blues the streets,

and its designs. Designed with unique and impressive fonts, as well as iconic brand

mascots like the lovable Fat Cat and the clever Blue Hat Shipperman. But unfortunately

after 4 years of operation, on December 8, 2023, BAEMIN officially said goodbye to the

Vietnamese market. Baemin's decision to stop operating in the Vietnamese market after

four years of operation is not only a simple sign but also reflects a series of challenges

that this brand has faced. This essay will analyze in depth three main factors contributing

to Baemin's failure in Vietnam.

An important factor behind Baemin's failure in the Vietnamese market is that it

encountered fierce competition from local competitors such as ShopeeFood and

GrabFood, who have dominated a large market share in the Vietnamese market. These

brands have significant advantages in brand recognition, customer loyalty, and marketing
resources, making it difficult for new entrants like Baemin to gain a foothold. This fierce

competition not only loses potential customers but also reduces Baemin's brand

recognition. While major competitors like Grab and ShopeeFood consistently provide

significant promotions to entice customers, this approach is not a primary focus for

Baemin. The outcome is a decline in momentum in the competition for market share.[1]

According to Momentum Works, Baemin holds 12% market share by 2022, significantly

lower than Grab's 45% and ShopeeFood's 41%. Obviously, in this field, Baemin is facing

many challenges in expanding market share and user growth. Obviously, in this field,

Baemin is facing many challenges in expanding market share and user growth. Baemin

has existed and succeeded in other markets, which also face fierce competition from

rivals. [2] According to MSc Haley Phan, she believes that "BAEMIN's somewhat late

entry into the market also contributed significantly to today's success. BAEMIN's

appearance in the Vietnamese market is like "a slow buffalo drinking cloudy water",

when Grab or ShopeeFood have swept and dominated the majority of the market share.

Baemin's ineffective marketing strategy also played a key role in leading to their

failure in the Vietnamese market. They focus too much on marketing, which is not

necessarily a good thing for the development of a brand, although running ads and using

outdoor advertising strategies in districts with different content and mentioned go to those

districts and combine with Influencers, KOLs, or artists to produce unique, strange and

beautiful advertising videos or very cute MVs combined with famous young artists today,

impressing customers with BAEMIN's dynamism and creativity may help reach very

high but sales leads and interactions are very miserable. Users may be visually impressed
but not impressed with the core product. They failed to impress consumers and failed to

establish customer loyalty. Ineffectiveness in marketing strategy has made Baemin

unable to compete with other competitors in the market, leading to a serious waste of

capital. Baemin cannot build brand awareness and customer loyalty in the Vietnamese

market. Many people admit they love Baemin's marketing campaigns but do not use

Baemin because the number of drivers and restaurants is small, the waiting time is long

and the customer care system is not as expected. Although marketing strategy is

important, it is not enough to explain the entire failure of Baemin. There may be other

factors such as competition and innovation that contribute to the final result. Baemin has

failed to deliver on this, failing to introduce new features or services that would

differentiate it from their competitors. [2] According to MSc Haley Phan's opinion,

"BAEMIN focuses too much on brand development while in this segment in Vietnam or

Southeast Asia, it is very "sticky". The campaigns Beamin does are usually small,

following other "viral" content on social networks, visually impressive, catching the

"trend", but not impressive in terms of the core product. It In other words, the fact that

Beamin's Marketing team did too well in Branding ended up being bad because they

forgot what should be given priority: Product Marketing - direct attack, aiming for

"deals" at bargain prices, attractive campaigns, specific promotional packages.

Consumers in this segment are cheap and hunt for "deals". Therefore, good content and

creative impressive images are "nice to have", meaning it's good to have but it's okay if

you don't have it, I'll go use something else".

 An important aspect in remaining competitive in the food delivery industry is that

innovation in products and services was also a key factor that led to Baemin's failure in

this market. They were unable to provide unique value and failed to attract customers'

attention. Although Baemin has spent a lot on marketing, it seems they have forgotten to

focus on developing the platform and improving products and services. It can be seen that

since entering the Vietnamese market, Baemin has had to compete "fiercely" with

platforms such as Grab, Gojek and ShopperFood in the field of food delivery. However,

Baemin only provides food delivery services, while other platforms provide many

services such as car booking, and delivery... Meanwhile, Grab has basically become a

"super app". Everything is available, and ShopeeFood is in the Shopee ecosystem, with

many incentives when users use the ShopeePay wallet. This reduces Beamin's ability to

reach new customers and poses a major challenge in scaling. For food, product, and

service delivery applications, the diversity of restaurant systems is the deciding factor in

user usage. This leads to a decline and loss of market share for Baemin.

In short, Baemin's failure in the Vietnamese market can be attributed to fierce

competition, ineffective marketing strategies and a lack of innovation. However, it is

important to realize that these factors are not unchangeable. Baemin can learn from its

experiences and adjust its strategies to expand its market in the future. This helps Baemin

focus on perfecting its marketing approach, driving innovation, and better understanding

local consumer preferences to improve its chances of success in future projects.

References :

[1]. https://tapchitaichinh.vn/baemin-dung-hoat-dong-tai-viet-nam-tu-ngay-8-12.html

[2]. https://vietnamfinance.vn/baemin-that-bai-tai-viet-nam-bai-hoc-tu-cuoc-dua-dot-tien-

cho-marketing-20180504224292315.htm