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Lotte Shopping’s Southeast Asia Bet: Can Korea’s Retail Giant Reinvent Itself Abroad?

Updated: 3 days ago

LOTTE Mall Hanoi exterior with crowds.
Visitors enjoy a sunny day at LOTTE Mall Hanoi, captured with striking sculptures and modern architecture in the backdrop.

Lotte Shopping’s Southeast Asia Bet: Can Korea’s Retail Giant Reinvent Itself Abroad?

South Korea’s Lotte Shopping is placing a bold wager on Southeast Asia. Long known as the retail flagship of the Lotte Group, the company is reimagining its future through a mix of overseas expansion, financial restructuring, and technology adoption.

The numbers tell the story. In 2024, overseas revenue rose 5.1%, while overseas operating profit surged 114.9%. By the first half of 2025, international business accounted for 12.9% of consolidated revenue and 18.1% of operating profit (Retail Asia, 2025). For a group traditionally reliant on its Korean base, this shift signals not just diversification but a deliberate pivot to Southeast Asia as a core growth engine.



Vietnam: A Landmark Launch

Nowhere is Lotte’s new chapter clearer than in Vietnam. In September 2023, the company opened the LOTTE Mall West Lake Hanoi, a premium retail complex designed as a one-stop destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment.

The results exceeded expectations. The mall surpassed ₩100 billion (US$72 million) in sales in just 122 days, and within its first six months drew more than six million visitors, highlighting its strong pull as a retail and entertainment hub (Korea Herald, 2025). It also turned profitable quickly, an uncommon outcome for such a large-scale launch.

Vietnam has rapidly become a key growth driver. In 2024, revenue rose 20% while operating profit jumped 216.9%. These figures underline both the market’s potential and Lotte’s ability to adapt its Korean mega-mall model to a Southeast Asian context. To build on this momentum, the company has announced plans to develop two to three additional premium retail complexes in Vietnam by 2030 (VietnamPlus, 2025).



Indonesia: Growth Through Scale

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest consumer market, has also become a focus. Lotte already operates dozens of hypermarkets and wholesale outlets in the country, and in 2024, the unit recorded year-on-year revenue and profit growth (Retail Asia, 2025).

While Vietnam showcases Lotte’s “retail-tainment” approach, Indonesia represents scale. By leaning on a combination of wholesale clubs and hypermarkets, the company is positioning itself to serve both families and small businesses in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.



Singapore: Strategic Partnerships and Regional Control

In Singapore, where land is scarce and competition is fierce, Lotte has chosen collaboration over confrontation. In May 2025, the company launched LOTTE Mart EXPRESS shop-in-shops inside FairPrice supermarkets. These curated sections feature private-brand Korean products, ranging from snacks to household essentials.

Within months, more than 100 FairPrice outlets carried Lotte’s products, which are also being exported to 13 countries to meet rising global demand for Korean food and lifestyle goods (Retail Asia, 2025).

Beyond distribution, Singapore will play a central role in strategy. Lotte has announced plans to establish an International Headquarters (iHQ) in the city-state, envisioned as a control tower for HR, finance, marketing, and partnerships across the region (Retail Asia, 2025).



Transformation 2.0: A Tech-Powered Pivot

Behind Lotte’s expansion is an internal overhaul. In 2024, the company introduced Transformation 2.0, a plan to become what management calls an “Agentic Enterprise”, a retailer enhanced by technology, efficiency, and sharper profit focus.

Central to this shift are:

  • AI-driven operations: Lotte is applying artificial intelligence across shopping, merchandising, and operations. AI is being used to optimize product recommendations, automate inventory decisions, and improve demand forecasting (Retail Asia, 2025).

  • Retail Media Network (RMN): The company is developing a platform to connect its offline and online channels, aiming to monetize shopper data and advertising inventory. The Singapore iHQ will help adapt RMN solutions for Southeast Asia (Retail Asia, 2025).

  • Core focus: At home, Lotte is reinforcing strengths in department stores and shifting supermarkets toward a more specialized grocery format.

  • E-commerce strategy: Instead of competing in low-margin general marketplaces, Lotte is focusing on vertical commerce in specific categories where it holds an advantage, with profitability prioritized by 2026.

This is not just about scale. It’s about reshaping the business into a smarter, leaner, and tech-enabled retailer.



Financial Discipline: A Stronger Base

Lotte’s overseas push is built on firmer financial ground than in years past. In late 2024, the company’s debt ratio dropped to 129%, while borrowing dependence fell to 38%. Liquidity was strengthened through tighter investment controls and asset optimization (Retail Asia, 2025).

For shareholders, the company paid ₩3,800 per share in 2024, exceeding its stated minimum. In June 2025, it made history by issuing Korea’s first interim dividend in the retail sector (Retail Asia, 2025). These actions have reinforced investor confidence and aligned with long-term goals.

By 2030, Lotte targets ₩20.3 trillion in revenue, ₩1.3 trillion in operating profit, and ₩3 trillion in overseas sales (VietnamPlus, 2025). These benchmarks highlight how central Southeast Asia has become to the company’s future.



Outlook: A Regional Blueprint

Taken together, Lotte Shopping’s strategy points to a new model for regional retail:

  • Use Vietnam as a showcase for mega-mall retail-tainment.

  • Build scale in Indonesia with a dual wholesale + hypermarket approach.

  • Anchor regional operations in Singapore for strategy, partnerships, and product localization.

  • Power it all with AI, retail media, and private-label innovation.

The road ahead won’t be without challenges: consumer habits vary widely, competition is fierce, and execution risks remain. But with a revitalized balance sheet, clear 2030 targets, and early successes abroad, Lotte has made its intent unmistakable: it wants to be more than Korea’s retail champion. It wants to be Southeast Asia’s.

To dive deeper into how global and regional players are reshaping Vietnam’s retail landscape, join us this October at RESA Vietnam 2025.


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