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COVER STORY

Ever upwards

Vietnam’s e-commerce market has been a major beneficiary of people changing
their shopping behavior as the pandemic makes its presence felt.
NGOC LAN Reports

50 shopping websites on the e-commerce
map had reached more than 1.3 billion,
and rose about 10 per cent in the second
quarter of 2021 compared to the first quar-
ter. This shows that the trend towards
online shopping is likely to continue if
social distancing is prolonged and discounts
are offered at the end of the year. “While
e-commerce businesses were still struggling
last year with the rapid change in consumer
shopping habits due to external factors,
they have now quickly adapted and seized
the opportunity as people stay at under
social distancing,” said Mr. Nguyen Nhat
Duy from the iPrice Group.
Similarly, Mr. Le Hai Binh, Vice Chair-
man of the Vietnam E-commerce Associa-
PHOTO: VIET TUAN tion (VECOM), told VET that, over recent
years, e-commerce businesses and the asso-
ciation have made great efforts to “educate
the market” in Vietnam and change people’s
hile many economic sectors strug- helps them meet their needs; again the shopping habits, and this has now become
gle under the weight of Covid- highest rate in the region. The internet an inexorable trend. While it’s too early to
W 19, e-commerce has been shining has enabled the continuation of activities talk about official numbers right now, he
brightly and continues to post impressive like entertainment, studies, shopping, mak- said, about 70 per cent of sellers on e-com-
revenue growth. According to Google, Viet- ing payments, or just keeping in touch. merce platforms achieved their 2021 targets
nam’s e-commerce sector will have grown “The reason for the rise in e-commerce is in just the first six or eight months of the

nearly four-fold by 2025 compared to 2020, access to information that helps consumers year and they expect growth of more than
reaching $52 billion in gross merchandise make faster purchase decisions,” Ms. Phan 10 per cent over the remainder of 2021.
value (GMV). “At this rate, I am optimistic said. “With information at their fingertips Facebook also published a report stating
that the sector will continue to accelerate thanks to the internet, consumers can seek that 81 per cent of users have had to change
with the right investments and infrastruc- out what they need before deciding to buy.” their shopping habits due to the pandemic,
ture to assist it,” Ms. Tammy Phan, Head In addition, iPrice Group and Similar- and 92 per cent think that this method of
of Marketing for Vietnam at Google APAC, Web research noted after the first half of shopping is more convenient and will con-
told VET. “In the short term, e-commerce 2021, the total number of visits to the top tinue to use it post-pandemic.
especially and the internet economy overall
are growing, and Covid-19 has accelerated
that growth.” % OF USERS FOR WHOM TECHNOLOGY MEETS THEIR NEEDS

MAJOR TRENDS 93% 94% 95%
Consumers across Southeast Asia have 89% 90% 92%
turned to technology to meet their daily
needs in the face of pandemic lockdowns,

according to the e-Conomy SEA 2020
Report from Google, Temasek, and Bain
& Company. That trend is especially pro-

nounced in Vietnam, where 41 per cent of
all digital service consumers are new to
the service due to Covid-19, and this pro-

portion is the highest in Southeast Asia,
where the average is 36 per cent. In follow Indonesia Singapore Philippines Malaysia Thailand Vietnam
up studies conducted as recently as August,

95 per cent of surveyed internet users in

Vietnam have found that digital technology Source: “Online with Purpose 9 months on”, Google e-Conomy Report, August 2021
8 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | SEPTEMBER 2021