The development of Vietnam’s e-commerce industry in recent years is a fierce battle.
In addition to the bright and prominent names such as Shopee, Tiki, Lazada, Sendo, Thegioididong, Adayroi, etc. There are also many brands that have to withdraw from this war like Beyeu.com, Deca, Foodpanda, Lingo, etc or most recently Vui Vui (vuivui.com) of the Mobile World was officially closed from the end of November 2018. With this such a market, do e-commerce entrepreneurs still have “room” to develop?
AccoThe biggest competitors of e-commerce startups have been not only Shopee, Tiki or Lazada but also a social network (social commerce). According to commercial shopping statistics via social networks in 2018, the percentage of purchases through Facebook reached 70%. Among those who shop through social networks, 33% buy goods through both Facebook and Zalo, 37% only buy products via Facebook. This helps us realize clearly that Vietnamese consumers are still prioritizing Facebook to shop more often.
The development of Vietnam’s e-commerce industry in recent years is a fierce battle. @ Source: Asia Plus
Vietnam e-commerce – fertile but also full of startups: In recent years, the strong development and significant changes of Vietnamese e-commerce is something everyone must recognize. In 2018 only, Vietnam’s e-commerce had achieved a total revenue of 2,269 million USD (up 29.4% compared to the previous year) and with this result Vietnam has been in the top 6 of 10 major e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia.
The number of customers buying on e-commerce sites also increased significantly by 2.6%, reaching 49.8 million people (accounting for more than 50% of Vietnam’s population) and of which 72% are shopping on mobile applications (source: Statista – 2018, VECITA – 2017).
The biggest obstacle of e-commerce in the present time has been probably the Vietnamese’s habit of buying. This is not only a challenge for startups but also makes it difficult for e-commerce giants such as: Buyers still have doubts in online buying and selling process, afraid of being cheated, lack of interaction between the seller and the buyer, in particular here is the advice of the seller to match the needs of the buyer. The consumers still want the habit: see- touch- try on the product before deciding to buy for ensuring. A product of thousands of sellers with general information, it is difficult to find out what is a reasonable price for the product to buy, forming a feeling of fear of buying.