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Vietnam
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Dang Hoang Linh
Dang Hoang Linh

Opinion | Vietnam’s e-commerce sector is booming, but why do consumers prefer Amazon and eBay?

  • Vietnamese platforms such as Tiki, Thegioididong and Sendo have become some of the most successful in the region
  • But despite growth of 30 per cent growth last year, low consumer confidence, logistics and infrastructure are constraining e-commerce in Vietnam

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A Vietnamese woman carries children on a bicycle. Vietnam is one of the most region’s promising e-commerce markets, driven by its young population, growing middle class, high internet penetration and rising smartphone penetration. Photo: AFP
Dang Hoang Linh
Although e-commerce in Vietnam significantly lags behind that in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the country is considered the fastest-growing digital economy in the region and its dynamic e-commerce market is unlocking new business opportunities and receiving attention from both domestic and foreign investors.

Over the last four years, around US$1 billion has been poured into Vietnam’s e-commerce sector, reaching a record high in 2019. This comes as the total value of global e-commerce nearly doubled to US$29 trillion in the four years to 2017, and recent research predicted that Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market will triple to US$240 billion by 2023.

These outcomes show that despite obstacles in physical, digital, and legal infrastructure, Vietnam is one of the most region’s promising e-commerce markets, driven by its young population, growing middle class, high internet penetration and rising smartphone penetration.

An employee assists a customer at a Thegioididong.com store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Bloomberg
An employee assists a customer at a Thegioididong.com store in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Bloomberg

RISING E-COMMERCE TIGER

E-commerce growth in Vietnam surged 30 per cent in 2018 to reach a new high of about US$8 billion, a higher growth rate than that of Thailand and Malaysia. User penetration was 56.7 per cent in 2019 and is expected to reach 64.4 per cent in the next four years, while e-commerce expenditure per capita soared 29 per cent to US$65 in 2018 – a close third in global rankings.

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