Size the opportunity, map the competitors and compare price points before committing to a market.
Research, channel development and digital marketing support
Foreign direct investment inflows to ASEAN rose 8 percent to USD 226 billion in 2024, even as global FDI flows fell 11 percent, according to the ASEAN Investment Report 2025. For businesses following that capital into Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia, the first question is how large their own category really is, and global reports often answer it by apportioning a regional estimate instead of building one from local evidence. The domestic competitors that set prices rarely appear in English research either. The Market Sizing Snapshot builds the estimate, the competitor view and the price benchmarks from local sources first, with every assumption stated.
Three weaknesses in the usual desk research explain most of the wrong turns we see before market entry.
Global industry reports for ASEAN markets are often synthesised from other secondary sources. Figures are commonly built from a regional estimate and apportioned by economic size, rather than assembled from national statistics, trade data and sector publications. Some reports use Thailand as a proxy for the wider region, and informal activity is easy to undercount. A headline number that cannot be audited is a weak basis for an investment decision.
Competitor lists have the same blind spot. English-language research tends to capture multinational brands with an English web presence. In most categories in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, the companies that shape prices and distribution are domestic businesses whose product pages, trade listings and promotions are published only in Vietnamese, Thai or Bahasa Indonesia. Leaving them out makes a market look less crowded, and a price point look safer, than it really is.
Published price benchmarks also age quickly. They may be a year or two old, drawn from a handful of international sellers or taken only from major cities, which hides regional variation. Prices recorded from local marketplaces, competitor websites and distributor channels at the time of the research, each with its collection date, give a far more usable view of the range a new entrant will face.
The Snapshot is built to close those three gaps before a go or no-go decision, a pricing decision or a distributor brief. It also becomes the research foundation that later positioning, channel and pricing work can reuse, so the same evidence does not have to be gathered twice.
The method stays consistent across markets. What changes is which sources exist, how reliable they are and which regulatory constraints narrow the market a foreign-invested business can actually serve.
We agree the product or service category, the geography, the customer segment and the reference period before any number is estimated. The total market is kept separate from the part that is relevant to your offer and accessible to your business, because sector licensing or foreign-ownership conditions can make those two figures very different.
We triangulate national statistics, trade data, sector publications and international reports, and check them against each other. The report explains how the estimate is constructed, where sources disagree and why, and which gaps limit confidence, so the figure can be defended in an internal approval process rather than quoted from a single report.
We identify the active domestic and international alternatives in the category using local-language sources such as marketplaces, trade publications, business registries and industry association directories. For each competitor we record the evidence for its market presence, positioning and publicly available pricing, and we note recent entrants as well as established leaders.
We compile dated price observations for comparable products or services from local marketplaces, competitor websites and, where accessible, distributor channels. Units, pack sizes, channels and promotional conditions are recorded with each observation, and distortions such as investment incentives or government reference pricing are flagged so the benchmarks are read correctly.
Each market page sets out the local context, the checks that matter there and what to prepare before the work begins.
Size the opportunity, map the competitors and compare price points before committing to a market. Focused on Vietnam.
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Size the opportunity, map the competitors and compare price points before committing to a market. Focused on Thailand.
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Size the opportunity, map the competitors and compare price points before committing to a market. Focused on Indonesia.
Explore the serviceThe same questions lead to different sources and constraints in each market. These are the differences the Snapshot plans around.
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| Dimension | Vietnam | Thailand | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market data | Official statistics, foreign trade data and industry association material are available, but category-level sizing normally needs triangulation. Single global reports frequently undercount informal activity. | BOI investment information, national sector output data and trade promotion benchmarks are published. Data for promoted sectors tends to be more reliable than estimates for non-promoted sectors. | BPS publishes sector output and trade data. National figures can hide large differences between Java and the other islands, and informal activity is easy to undercount. |
| Access for foreign-invested businesses | Conditional business lines, market access conditions for foreign investors and sector licensing can narrow the market a foreign-invested entrant can serve. | BOI eligibility and foreign business restrictions shape the accessible market, so estimates separate the total market from the part open to the client. | Sector restrictions for PT PMA companies, minimum capital rules and OSS-RBA business classifications affect both the accessible market and the competitor set. |
| Personal data in follow-on research | Vietnam’s Personal Data Protection Law, in force since 1 January 2026, applies if primary research collects personal data. | The Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 generally applies to primary research that collects personal data in Thailand. | Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection (UU PDP) applies to primary research involving Indonesian personal data. |
The engagement letter confirms the final format, depth and level of detail.
An executive summary, the market definition and sizing method, the addressable market estimate with its assumptions and confidence range, and the key growth drivers and constraints for the category. A source appendix records the publication date and a reliability assessment for each source used.
Profiles of the relevant domestic and international competitors with their positioning and available pricing, and a price benchmark table running from the lowest-priced domestic offers to premium international alternatives. Every observation is linked to its source and collection date.
The market entry signals that matter most for your decision, and the questions that need deeper validation, such as primary research, before investment or launch. Where it helps, we identify the follow-on work the evidence points to.
A clear brief keeps existing evidence separate from new research and focuses the work on the decision at hand.
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| Input | What to include |
|---|---|
| Your offer | Category, specification, target customers and intended geography. |
| Existing research | Reports, known competitors, assumptions and information already available. |
| Decision and deadline | The decision this report needs to support and the agreed depth of research. |
The Snapshot is a secondary-research assignment. Surveys, interviews and focus groups, financial modelling or business cases, product localisation advice, formal legal or regulatory review and a full feasibility study are separately scoped.
Businesses that decide to proceed usually move on to positioning, audience and channel choices. The Marketing Strategy Brief builds directly on the Snapshot’s competitor and price evidence, and a Pricing Localization Check can reuse the competitor price data already collected.
Where secondary data cannot answer an important question, the report says so and identifies what primary research, business case work or regulatory advice would close the gap. Those assignments are agreed separately, with Viettonkin’s relevant advisory practice where appropriate.
Engagements from Viettonkin’s published case studies. Each card states where the work took place and summarises what we did; the case itself gives the full context.
An Indian castor oil producer planning a manufacturing facility in Vietnam needed a structured assessment first. We compared three shortlisted industrial zones in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh, researched local pricing and availability of key raw materials, and set out export considerations such as rules of origin and duties.
Read the case study
A regional logistics company wanted an honest view of where it was losing deals. We ran a structured market intelligence sprint covering competitor pricing, win and loss interviews, and shadow-pricing analysis.
Read the case study
A regional investor was preparing to acquire a target in Southeast Asia. We reviewed competitive positioning and market size, and tested whether the target’s growth thesis would hold up after integration.
Read the case studyPractical answers for planning your marketing brief.
No. An addressable-market estimate describes a defined opportunity using stated assumptions. The share a business can win depends on its offer, reach, competition and execution.
Primary research is not assumed in the Snapshot. If secondary data is insufficient, the report can identify the gaps and a separate research scope.
International reports are one input. They are often apportioned from regional estimates and miss domestic competitors, so the Snapshot checks them against local statistics, trade data and local-language sources and explains where they diverge.
They are agreed after reviewing the market, scope, source material, access requirements and delivery responsibilities.
Share your target market, business objective and current setup. We will agree the deliverables, responsibilities and next step.
