According to the latest research by Acclime Vietnam, Vietnam is regarded as an awakening dragon in the e-commerce space, alongside other major Southeast Asian economies such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Vietnam’s e-commerce potential is supported by its young, tech-savvy population, high internet penetration, rising income, and progressive government policies which promote the digital economy.

A report by the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade’s E-Commerce and Digital Economy Department also showed that Vietnam’s e-commerce market recorded an estimated value of $13 billion in 2021, surpassing $5 billion in 2020.

The market volume is projected to continue to be a major pivot in the next years, where Vietnam may overtake its regional peers such as Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Numerous foreign investors expanded their digital commerce footprint in Vietnam, predominantly from China, Japan, the United States, and South Korea. Notably, Vietnam is home to five key successful Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms, namely Shopee, Lazada, The Gioi Di Dong, Tiki, and Sendo.

Vietnam's local e-commerce market is diverse and competitive, nurturing hundreds of local and foreign participants striving to create value and win consumer market share.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are the main e-commerce hubs in Vietnam offering strategic location, and supportive infrastructure, with an increasing number of logistic providers having invested in large-scale warehouses and logistics centres.

Vlad Savin, head of Business Development at Acclime Vietnam said, "In 2021, Vietnam’s e-commerce market grew 24 per cent compared with the previous year. In accordance with the Vietnam E-Commerce Association, online shopping traffic in Vietnam in 2021 grew by 150 per cent compared with the previous year, with daily visits to e-commerce sites reaching 3.5 million. This signals not just consistency in the market progression patterns year on year, but an actual transformation in the way Vietnamese users are undertaking shopping, shifting their habits towards online and social platforms with priority."

On the same note, Peter Christou, general manager of the Worldpanel Division at Kantar Vietnam noted "The pandemic has changed the way people shop around the world and Vietnam is no different. It has motivated more shoppers to go online and challenged online retailers to improve their service. Older consumers, who were more traditional in their shopping habits were forced online as the world shut down. Now, familiar, and comfortable with technology, digital seniors are empowered to make purchases and use services through this channel."

Looking ahead, Vietnam’s e-commerce growth is expected to pivot to $39 billion by 2025, ranking second in the region only after Indonesia, and signifying a threefold growth compared with 2020.

This outstanding growth perspective is buoyed by a consistent foreign investment flow into the country’s digital economy, rising internet penetration, and high urbanisation rate.