Speed and delivery quality will determine the growth of the e-commerce market in the time to come, according to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom).

The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World), a large retail chain, which runs thegioididong.com and dienmayxanh.com, is committing to delivering goods within 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, FPT Shop pledges to deliver goods within 60 minutes to addresses to addresses within 10 kilometers in all 63 cities/provinces.

Under the latest policy which has been announced, FPT Shop takes orders with requested delivery time. Mobile phones and tablets are delivered prior to 9 pm and laptops prior to 8 pm.

Freight & forwarding companies have also joined the race to satisfy online buyers’ requirements and serve large marketplaces such as Lazada, Tiki and Sendo.

Tiki, under cooperation programs with payment service providers such as MoMo and ZaloPay, now offers TikiNow, a coupon for free delivery within two hours.

Freight & forwarding, marketplaces and retailers all are under pressure to become ‘faster’ and ‘better’. Delivery speed will have a direct impact on successful order rates.

The inner-city delivery market is getting scorching hot with the appearance of many small-scale delivery firms, including startups developed on basis of technology apps, which mostly serve owners of online shops.

Meanwhile, large freight forwarding companies such as Viettel Post, VNPost and Giao Hang Nhanh are dominating the playing field.

The field became more crowded when Grab Vietnam invested in Grab Express service, rather than focusing on its e-hailing (GrabCar/GrabBike). Grab Express delivers letters, gifts and documents within cities.

Grab, together with Go-Viet, both of which are backed by foreign powerful companies, are holding advantages over Vietnamese delivery firms. They can run large-scale promotion programs and organize fast delivery services thanks to the network of GrabExpress and Go-Send drivers.

Small delivery firms are less competitive than big ones which have technology and financial power. However, analysts say the small firms will still be able to ‘live well’ if they can choose suitable market segments.

According to Hoang Giang, the founder of TopShip, a platform that connects transport service providers, small firms can provide services to customers’ requests with different service packages and fast delivery service within cities.

Online shops could be the major clients of the firms as they have diverse service requests. In this field, small firms have bigger advantages than large ones. Delivery services can also seek niche markets such as instant delivery services, low-cost services and delivery of specialized products.