According to statistics from iPrice, more than a quarter of e-commerce page views in Vietnam come from Shopee. In the third quarter of 2020, Shopee VN became the most visited e-commerce site in Vietnam. The leading e-commerce portals in the Vietnamese market, including Shopee, Lazada, TheGioiDiDong, and Tiki, account for more than half of the traffic in the Vietnamese e-commerce market. In addition, other local Vietnamese e-commerce platforms attracted more than 3/5 of the page views, and non-local platforms such as Shopee and Lazada captured about 3/4 and 1/4 of the page traffic of non-local platforms respectively. In terms of industry, e-commerce traffic on independent websites accounts for nearly 60%, while platform sellers attract more than 1/3 of page views. Electronics, fashion, toys and furniture products are the fastest growing categories in Vietnam’s e-commerce industry.
Opportunities and challenges coexist in Vietnam’s e-commerce market. Logistics, pricing and market consumers’ perception of products are issues that Chinese and Vietnamese cross-border e-commerce sellers need to consider when entering Vietnam. A serious problem in the Vietnamese market is that the delivery time is too long. The average delivery time for e-commerce in Vietnam is 5–6 days. Considering that express delivery speed is a major concern for consumers when shopping online, sellers and platforms must work together to improve the logistics experience. In addition, another problem that cross-border sellers face is the potential losses due to accidentally selling counterfeit goods, infringing intellectual property rights, and selling prohibited goods.
All in all, as the Vietnamese government is committed to the digital transformation of the economy and actively promoting the development of its e-commerce, foreign investment in e-commerce-related industrial chains is conducive to promoting the growth of Vietnam’s e-commerce market. After doing sufficient market research and understanding the risks and challenges, it is a good choice for cross-border sellers to enter Vietnam to open up new markets.
