Amidst the explosive growth of online transactions linked to consumption, exports, logistics, electronic payments, and the digital economy, the E-Commerce Law is expected to shape a sustainable future for the sector, while ensuring a balance between State management, consumer rights, and business interests.

The Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade asserted that the core tenet of the E-Commerce Law is to build a more transparent digital business environment, clarifying the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of each entity participating in the market.

Market transparency

Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, noted that the E-Commerce Law and Decree No. 248/2026/ND-CP are being implemented in the spirit of both facilitating lawful business activities and enhancing the responsibilities of entities engaged in online business. The central goal is to guide platforms, enterprises, and business households towards the principle of “compliance before selling”. At the same time, management agencies will have sufficient grounds to address actors who exploit the online environment to trade in counterfeit goods, conduct false advertising, evade obligations, or infringe upon consumer rights.

One of the highlights of the new regulations is the requirement for strict identification. Specifically, intermediary e-commerce platforms are required to verify sellers’ identities before allowing them to operate. This move helps to cleanse the market, and curtail both counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights through the ability to trace sellers, while effectively supporting tax management, preventing losses to the State budget, and protecting consumers’ legitimate rights and interests.

Notably, the guiding principle is to make maximum use of the State’s existing digital infrastructure and data, without generating unnecessary additional administrative procedures for people and enterprises, while still ensuring effective management tools for State agencies. The new law and decree also clarify the responsibilities of e-commerce platforms. Platforms now serve not only as transactional conduits, but must also proactively manage seller information, publicise their regulations, receive feedback, store data, and remain ready to coordinate with competent agencies to comprehensively address violations. For social media platforms with integrated e-commerce functions, the new regulations require mechanisms to identify sales accounts, ensuring a transparent separation between ordinary communication activities and business purposes.

Furthermore, livestream sales and affiliate marketing are also among the key areas regulated by the new legal framework. Accordingly, all individuals directly participating in livestreaming, including KOLs and KOCs, must verify their identities before going live and must ensure the absolute truthfulness of product information.

At the same time, parties participating in affiliate marketing networks need to maintain transparency regarding their roles and responsibilities. For consumers, the new regulations firmly consolidate core rights: access to information, data security, the right to complain, and dispute resolution.

Proactive adaptation

Le Thi Ha, Head of the E-Commerce Activity Management Division under the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, pointed out that because the E-Commerce Law was adopted by the National Assembly on December 10, 2025, digital platforms have had time to prepare technical infrastructure and complete operational processes for seller identity verification, content management, and control of livestream activities.

To meet the new standards, platforms need to develop synchronised technical systems that allow direct connection with the Ministry of Public Security’s databases to serve electronic identification for all sellers, livestreamers, and individuals engaged in affiliate marketing.

For enterprises participating in online business, experts contend that the most pressing task is to proactively transform their governance models to adapt promptly to the new legal framework. Online businesses need to urgently review and standardise all legal entity information, tax codes, product details, warranty policies, and all content made public to customers. Alongside this, special attention should be paid to improving user experience through transparent return and exchange policies, meticulous after-sales services, and the provision of full information about goods.

These adjustments are not merely designed to satisfy legal requirements, they form a core foundation for building and consolidating solid trust among consumers. Tran Trong Tuyen, Chairman of the Viet Nam E-Commerce Association (VECOM), offered practical recommendations for enterprises in the sector, emphasising three strategic pillars.

First, as the new legal framework has clearly defined the responsibilities of each entity participating in the market, any enterprise wishing to develop sustainably must strictly comply with these new “rules of the game”.

Second, amid increasingly fierce competition in the marketplace, business entities cannot neglect investment in technology, data exploitation, and the optimisation of omnichannel sales management capacity to improve operational efficiency.

Third, enterprises need to focus their full efforts on strengthening customer trust. The actual quality of products, transparency of origin, the capacity to harness data, and clarity in after-sales policies are decisive factors in determining consumers’ long-term loyalty to enterprises.

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