The growth in the e-commerce market, B2C deliveries and international trade services is expected to drive express delivery services in Vietnam, experts said.

Specifically, Vietnam’s express delivery services market was worth 0.71 billion USD last year, and is projected to grow at 24.1% a year to reach 4.88 billion USD by 2030.

According to a market report by Acclime Vietnam and Kantar Worldpanel, though Vietnam is less developed than many other e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia, it is one of the fastest growing online economies.

It had the fourth highest online gross merchandise value of 13 billion USD in the region last year.

Its exceptional e-commerce growth is expected to generate 39 billion USD by 2025, second in the region only after Indonesia, and representing a threefold growth from 2020.

According to experts, the growing e-commerce industry is expected to foster logistics services, especially express delivery.

Moreover, the increasing consumer preference for faster delivery of goods has made express delivery services a key differentiator for both large e-commerce players and startups, they said.

A report by Allied Market Research said the growth of cross-border e-commerce coupled with rapid globalisation is the key factor in the development of international trade in the country.

The unavailability of some products in the domestic market, affordability and better quality mean people prefer to buy things on international websites.

Online shoppers are now much more sophisticated, and expect not only delivery of the right goods on time, but also careful packaging, intact goods on arrival and a personable attitude from delivery workers, according to delivery services providers.

Sellers want to keep track of their parcels and delivery service providers to operate nonstop, even on weekends.

To thrive amid the intensifying competition, express delivery service providers are increasingly focusing on offering distinct services such as grading and assortment of products, packaging, labelling, online tracking of parcels, mobile applications, e-mail and SMS alerts, security tagging, 24/7 call centre support, and so on.

For instance, J&T Express, in addition to having sorting centres fitted with smart logistics systems across processing, storage, and delivery, has also invested in building a Track & Trace feature on its website to help customers track orders and easily change delivery addresses./.