NAILS

DECEMBER 2016 | NAILS MAGAZINE | 115UBM Asia, Asia’s largest trade exhibition organizer, entered the Vietnam marketthis year with the launch of Vietbeauty 2016, a tradeshow that took place in Augustat the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Roughly 150brands participated and 5,057 attended.“According to the ‘Markets of the Future: ASEAN in 2020’ study conducted by Euro-monitor International, Vietnam is the second-fastest growing beauty and personalcare market in Asia,” says Susan Nguyen, UBM Asia project manager. “Moreover,there has never been a better time to enter the Vietnamese market and develop yourbusiness in the beauty industry thanks to the ASEAN Economic Community, createdin 2015, which unites the entire region economically with standardized regulationsand considerably lower, in fact almost zero, tariffs. Given the opportunities createdby the country’s current economic growth, this is why UBM Asia decided to enter theVietnam market with the Vietbeauty exhibition.”The biggest attraction for nail professionals at the show was a mobile nail printer,Nguyen says, adding that Vietbeauty represented the printer’s launch into thismarket. The first show was considered a success by UBM Asia, which will host it againin August 2017.Many other small beauty tradeshows take place in Vietnam throughout the yearas well.The large shows feature branded products that U.S.-based nail techs are familiarwith, including OPI, Odyssey Nail Systems, Cuccio, Hand & Nail Harmony (Gelish),and CND. Cuccio, notably, has good distribution via Kelly Pang Nail schools, itseducators, and its students. But it is primarily high-end salons and spas in Vietnamthat use branded products. At the average salon in Vietnam, unbranded products arethe norm.SERVICE AND SALON PROFILESalons filling many different niches coexist in Vietnam. As Vietnamese-Americannail techs share success stories of myriad nail salon concepts from overseas, entrepre-neurs adapt these concepts to Vietnam. Meanwhile, traditional street vendor-stylenail techs continue to fill the natural nail care needs for elderly and rural clients.Street vendor nail techs offer basic services such as nail art, either to passers-by orby going door-to-door. “Older women will go with the street nail tech,” Tran says. “Iremember back in 2000 I used to get my nails done for 10,000 VND (US $0.50) +5,000 VND tip (US$0.25) at a small shop in an alley near my house.” The nails werepainted a solid color. To upgrade to two floral nail art designs cost more — about40,000 VND (US$2).Then there are home-based salons, which may be as simple as a chair in the firstSNAPSHOT: VIETNAMMarket size: 931,000 VND (US$42) average per-woman spending on beautyservices (includes hair, skin, eyebrows, nails, and other professional beauty services)``````Licensing: No government licensing; some schools issue certificates upon graduation``````Trending nail styles: Detailed nail art done in traditional nail polish``````Salon types: Historically full-service; recently, nails-only salons are opening``````Popular products: Unbranded products are the norm, but branded products aregaining ground, including those by OPI, Odyssey Nail Systems, Cuccio, Hand & NailHarmony (Gelish), and CND``````What they do well: Speed and attention to detail``````Room for improvement: Increased knowledge about health and safety issues, suchas risks of cuticle cutting>>>