POST COVID 19 CURRENT SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE WORKING QUALITY OF STAFF AT SHOPEE VIETNAM

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITYDEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – MARKETING POST COVID-19: CURRENT SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE WORKING QUALITY OF STAFF AT SHOP

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – MARKETING

POST COVID-19: CURRENT

SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO

IMPROVE THE WORKING QUALITY

OF STAFF AT

SHOPEE VIETNAM

Student: Nghiêm Thu Hà Major: International Business Course: 44

Instructor: MBA Dương Ngọc Hồng

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – MARKETING

POST COVID-19: CURRENT

SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS TO

IMPROVE THE WORKING QUALITY

OF STAFF AT

SHOPEE VIETNAM

Student: Nghiêm Thu Hà Major: International Business Course: 44

Instructor: MBA Dương Ngọc Hồng

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my instructor Mrs Duong Ngoc Hong for the continuous support of my thesis, for her patience, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my graduate thesis

Besides my advisor, I'd also like to thank my managers, the Health & Beauty

category leaders, and my colleagues at Shopee Vietnam for assisting me in

developing myself in a dynamic environment at Shopee, while also providing me with many favorable conditions to finish my thesis Here, I have the opportunity to directly experience a professional working environment, interact with talented and experienced people, and put what I've learned into practice Thank you so much to

Ms Phan Nguyen Khanh Trinh - team 3T’s leader and Ms Le Kim Uyen - my buddyfor directly guiding and supporting me throughout my internship at Shopee

Finally, I'd like to thank all teachers at the UEH School of International Businessand Marketing Thank you for your understanding and guidance, this has helped me

a lot when doing my thesis in the time of this pandemic

I wish you all good health and success in life, and I hope Shopee will continue to grow in the future

Ho Chi Minh, 22 October 2021

Nghiêm Thu Hà

This internship report with the topic of “Post Covid-19: Current situation and

solutions to improve the working quality of staff at Shopee Vietnam” has been written

by myself and has not received any previous academic credit at this or any other institution No other person's work has been utilized in the thesis without proper acknowledgment

Ho Chi Minh, 22 October 2021

Nghiêm Thu Hà

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In recent years, e-commerce is no longer a strange concept in society or a new field inour country Especially in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought many changes tothe economy but contributed to the breakthrough growth of e-commerce As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our world, more consumers have begun shopping online in greater numbers and frequency e-commerce outperforms traditional brick-and-mortar retail in a pandemic Customers prefer to have goods delivered to their doorstep rather than going outside and risking infection Ecommerce was growing fast before COVID-19 hit But the pandemic pushed even more consumers to shop online And Shopee is no exception; in addition to the sharp increase in online

business, business development staff who work directly with sellers play a critical role in the company's growth However, these staffs face their own challenges when working in unusual circumstances, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic According

to my observations, not all business development staff can achieve the set objectives;

in fact, there are still unresolved issues in the working process As a result, I chose this topic to analyze and research while also proposing solutions in order to improve the working quality of business development staff in the time of Covid-19 and

thereafter will contribute to Shopee's development

The main purpose of the research is to highlight some of the issues that some BDs face They are: Misunderstanding when working with supporting teams; the workload of Business Development Staff is heavy; some BDs are not proficient in using supporting tools; and, finally, there is a constant change in the time of Covid-19: Many flashsale slots have been cut off due to Covid-19's effect Based on some data collected and

personal experience during the internship, the author selects, analyzes, and finds out four main problems After analyzing the five main causes affecting the existing problem to offer solutions to help businesses improve their working processes and be more efficient

in the future the study comes up with some recommendations that are practical and most compatible with BD in Health and Beauty category to enhance the working quality Thereby, helping businesses attract more new customers

as well as maintain long-term relationships with customers who have shopped online on Shopee.

1.1.2History of development 51.1.3 Vision and mission of the company 71.1.3.1 Vision of the company 71.1.3.2 Mission of the company 81.1.4Working culture and core value of the company 81.1.4.1 Working culture in Shopee 81.1.4.2 Core value of the company 101.2 Organizational Structure 11

1.4.2Introduction of Bussiness Development Department - FMCG cluster 19

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEMS ANALYSIS 21

2.1 Working process of business development staff 212.2 Information about supporting teams 222.3 The situation of e-commerce platform during the Covid-19 pandemic 232.4 Some problems noticed in the working process of Business Development staff in

2.4.1 Problem 1: Misunderstanding when working with supporting teams 252.4.2 Problem 2: The workload of Bussiness Development Staff is heavy 272.4.3 Problem 3: Not proficiency in working with supporting tools 272.4.4 Problem 4: There is a constant change in the time of Covid-19: Many flash

sale slots had been cut off due to the affect of Covid-19 29

2.5.1 Not understand clearly the process of supporting teams 292.5.2 Many complains/ question from sellers 292.5.3 Lacking of time management skill 302.5.3 Lacking of skills to work with supporting tools 302.5.4 Reduce pressure on carriers 31

CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATION: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE

WORKING QUALITY OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STAFF IN FMCG

3.2.1 Learning and Development Department should focus to train new staff

thoroughly and occasionally test the knowledge of the old staff 333.2.2 Training Customer Service team to share the work for BD team 343.2.3 Design a flexible schedule, prioritize the implementation of important tasks

353.2.4 Arrange training sessions for time-management skills 383.2.5 Arrange separate training sessions for new staff to practice directly with

3.2.6 Adapt with the current situation since the company core value is “We adapt”

40

3.2.7 The support from the government for the e-commerce, creating a premise topromote the development of Shopee 40

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.4: The numbers of visits to wesbites from Q1 to Q4 2020 16

Figure 2.3: Timeline and process of creating designed deals for banner team 26

Figure 2.4: Timeline and process of creating non-designed deals for banner team

27

BD Business Development

BE Back endC2C Consumer to ConsumerCAT Category

CCB Coin Cash Back

CX Customer Experience

FE Front endFMCG Fast Moving Consumer GoodsFSS Freeship Xtra

GMV Gross Merchandise Value

HB Health and BeautyKPI Key Performance Indicator

LT Long tail

MT Mid tailPIC Person in charge

QC Quality check

RM Relationship ManagementSOS Seller Operation SupportSPX Shopee Express

ST Short tail

1 Internship Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is a "nightmare" for many economic sectors around

the world, but it appears to be the "fortune" of e-commerce platforms when

online shopping is the only way for consumers to get what they need in times of social distancing

Due to the social distancing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, long-standing habits have been altered, prompting even the elderly and those who only shop in traditional ways to consider shopping online Customers can now shop for everythingfrom groceries to electronics to services using a variety of websites and e-commerce platform applications such as Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, or Sendo Education services andhotel reservations are available with just one click or a few taps on a smart mobile device, and at a very low cost It is clear that the e-commerce industry is increasinglycontributing to the economic recovery that has been severely impacted by this

followed by the rise of cashless payments and logistics services, all of which will

contribute to the steady growth of e-commerce

This indicates that after the pandemic, e-commerce will still be strongly associated withuser shopping habits So, what kinds of visions and strategies are required to

about e-commerce platforms and how companies in the industry work to develop andadapt even in the most difficult situations Shopee Vietnam is also known as a young,dynamic work environment that values creative freedom It is also one of Vietnam's largest e-commerce platforms, with a strong growth rate of 2x per month, with a strategy to adapt very quickly to COVID-19 As a result, I believe Shopee Vietnam will be a good place for me to improve my working and soft skills, as well as my knowledge of e-commerce.

2 Expectations for the internship

Gain knowledge of how to operate and develop business strategies at e-commerce platforms in Vietnam Shopee Vietnam is one of the two largest e-commerce

platforms in the country today, with excellent strategies Compared to direct

competitors such as Lazada and Tiki, as well as indirect competitors such as

Facebook, Instagram, and others Learn how to implement operations in mega

campaigns such as 9.9, 11.11, and 12.12 Learn more about working processes and tools to support work so that a business development staff can complete assigned tasksmore effectively Furthermore, giving analysis, evaluation and comment on the reality

of business strategies in FMCG cluster Which strategy helps the company in general and the industry in particular develop and adapt quickly? In addition, I'd like to

contribute to the development of measures to improve the implementation of business strategies in the FMCG cluster in general, and in the Health and Beauty sector in particular

3 Reasons for choosing the topic

The business development (BD) staff will approach sellers on Shopee to take care, support, and hunt deals in order to get the best price Preparing for a campaign takes

15 to 20 days on average, and 25 days on big sale days like 9.9, 11.11, and 12.12 The BD team will begin by approaching, communicating, selling advertising

packages, and so on, following workflows designed to help them work more

efficiently However, some BD said that they are frequently overworked, resulting in stress, fatigue, and dealing with unresolvable cases, and as a result, failing to meet thecompany's objectives

For each campaign, the company will assign KPIs based on specific indicators such asGMV or ADO to business development staff to monitor and set indicators in order to achieve the company's overall goals BDs are measured against a variety of KPIs, including hunting deals, selling marketing solution packages, increasing the number

of sellers who use the Freeship extra and coin cash back packages.A campaign that needs a lot of effort from the staff to reach the target of the campaign that day When looking at the data in the report, however, it becomes clear that not all employees havemet their set goals or personal objectives When being asked about this issue in

particular, many employees said that the work of business development staff is

frequently overloaded Furthermore, there are still employees who perform very well and others who fall short of the goals set earlier

I realize this is partly due to working in a special condition like Covid-19, which hasposed numerous challenges for both BD and shopee's operations So I'd like to come

up with some solutions to improve the BD staff's working quality, so that the seller

is best supported and we can all help Shopee grow even during the pandemic

4 Subjects of the study

● Some issues that business development personnel face while on the job, as well

as the root causes of these issues

● Solutions for improving the working quality of business development staff in the FMCG cluster

5 Scope of the study

The study was conducted among Shopee Vietnam's business development staff in theHealth and Beauty category

1 Data collection

Read materials and update reports related to the topic, and gather reports related to thetopic for analysis, which will serve as the foundation for reasoning and concludingthe problem, and providing solutions

2 Face-to-face interviewing

Direct discussion between two people including the researcher and the research

7 Outline

Chapter 1: Overview of shopee Vietnam and job role

Chapter 2: Problems analysis

Chapter 3: Recommendation

Conclusion

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF SHOPEE VIETNAM AND JOB ROLE 1.1 About Shopee Vietnam

1.1.1 General information

Company name: Shopee Vietnam Co., Ltd

Business model: E-commerce platform

Address: Floor 15-16-17, Saigon Center 2 Building, No 67 Le Loi Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tax code: 0106773786-003

Representative: Mr Tran Anh Tuan

Date of operation: April 1, 2015

1.1.2 History of development

Shopee is a e-commerce platform, founded in 2015 in Singapore, by Forrest Li's Sea group Currently, shopee is present in many Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines including Vietnam and

expandedits reach to Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia It is also available in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea as seller centres

Shopee is a platform tailored for the region, providing customers with an easy, secure and fast online shopping experience through strong payment and logistical support Shopee has a wide selection of product categories ranging from consumer electronics to home and living, health and beauty, baby and toys, fashion and fitness equipment

US public listing ever by a Southeast Asian technology company

Sea Group includes subsidiaries: Garena, Shopee, Sea Money (in Vietnam beingcalled ShopeePay), Foody ( joined at the end of 2019) Create an eco system of

however, other subsidiaries are present in many Southeast Asian and Latin

American countries

*Shopee

Shopee was officially launched in Vietnam market on August 8, 2016 after a year of

testing since June 2015 With the management of Mr Pine Kyaw - Managing

Director and Mr Tran Tuan Anh - Director of Operations and Finance, Shopee

Vietnam is experiencing strong growth and becoming a key commercial market in our

country 2017, Shopee Mall was introduced across the region The portal is separate from the regular Shopee marketplace and provides access to thousands of products

from over 200 top sellers and brands such as Unilever, L’Oreal, Philips and Adidas According to a media statement, Shopee Mall was conceptualised due to the

increasing need for brands to provide Vietnamese with a streamlined online shopping experience It also aids larger brands looking to pursue an omni-channel approach andreach out toe new customer bases

2018, for the first time ever, Shopee has successfully claimed the title of being the

most visited e-commerce marketplace in Vietnam on web In the third quarter,

Shopee Vietnam raked in 34.5 million web visits monthly, which is a 30% increase compared to the previous quarter, and an impressive 197% growth since the same period last year It also surpassed Lazada Vietnam, which took the top spot since the chart was conceived in Quarter 2, 2017

2019, Establish Warehouse/ Shopee Express, merge 100% Foody with Shopee

and double number of sellers on Shopee Mall

- Establishing Shopee Xpress has bring many benefits for Shopee

● Speedy delivery

● Manageable (end 2 end)

● Cost optimization (comparison using 3PL)

● Brand identity

- Reasons to establish warehouse

● Store goods across borders

● Store Shopee Mall goods

● Sellers do not have warehouses, can use warehouse rental services => faster delivery

2020, support hundreds of billion VND for sellers in the time of Covid-19.

1.1.3 Vision and mission of the company

1.1.3.1 Vision of the company

The director of Shopee Vietnam believes that these three major trends will accompanythe rapid growth of e-commerce in the near future

1 First, users today are more social than ever before, and they expect an online shopping experience that is more meaningful, engaging, and entertaining, with rich and unique content Online shopping is now more than just a transactional experience Therfore,e-commerce platforms should focus on integrating more interactive elements such as gamesand livestreams to increase connection with consumers Consumers use online platforms to meet essential needs as well as to entertain themselves during this period of social

distancing Shopee has continuously improved on its in-app engagement features over the past five years to make the online shopping experience more social As a result, the averageamount of time spent in-app by a user has risen year by year

2 Second, the development of digital payment methods has been accelerated by the growth of e-commerce The total number of Shopee orders paid with the AirPay e-wallet in the region has quadrupled In addition, the number of retail stores in Vietnam that accept payment via AirPay wallet has doubled in the last year Users are increasingly paying at retail chains such as 7-Eleven, MyKingdom, and Guardian , demonstrating that digital payments are no longer limited to online transactions and are becoming more

popular in places where traditional sales are still conducted

3 The third trend is related to logistics CEO of Shopee stated that brands and sellers must effectively use technology to ensure fast and cost-effective delivery of goods The most effective method is to take advantage of the large and integrated network of e-commerce platforms, especially when demand for online shopping for essential goods is increasing

With that vision in mind, Shopee intends to continue assisting businesses in scaling upand growing efficiently by tracking the entire process from moderation to delivery, aswell as expanding its logistics network and warehouse capacity.

1.1.3.2 Mission of the company

Shopee aspires to change the world for the better by providing a platform to

connect buyers and sellers within one community Shopee offers buyers a one-stop online shopping experience that is accessible, easy and enjoyable; and empower

sellers to grow their businesses with technology and support

*Shopee’s core strategy

● Hyper-localisation: Shopee will continue to cater to the needs of consumers and

businesses in each of our markets They recognise the diversity in our region and will continue to innovate to serve local needs and advance local economies

● Mobile-first: Shopee is a pioneer of mobile commerce in our region They

enable our region’s mobile-first users to shop, sell and interact online with ease Today, 95% of Shopee’s orders are made on mobile, a sign of our success

● User-centric: Shopee puts the needs of our users at the heart of everything they

do As online shopping evolves beyond transactions, they will continue to develop new features and services that make mobile shopping easy, seamless, and more joyful

● Digital inclusion: Shopee addresses underserved needs and ensures that

everyone can participate in the digital economy This includes more support for rural and local communities and nurturing local tech talent

1.1.4 Working culture and core value of the company

1.1.4.1 Working culture in Shopee

Shopee’s working culture is built around open communication, collaboration and community We envision our workplace to be a place where employees can come together to create meaningful connections with one another As their work requires a

TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat123@gmail.com

high level of intra- and inter-departmental interaction, they are focused on creating

a vibrant and open workplace that facilitates ease of communication This guiding principle is reflected through employee engagement activities, strong feedback

culture, and office features that facilitate conducive collaboration

* About Shopee organizational culture

Organizational culture is the sum of values, beliefs and principles that help to

shape and define the behaviors and practices in an organization It guides Shopee

in the journey to achieve their purpose

Figure 1.1: Shopee’s core values

(Source: Shopee)

Shopee’s culture is a reflection of actions, behaviors and practices, anchored on their value Everything they do and say becomes their culture over time It could be the waythey:

● Engage with our colleagues and community of buyers and sellers

● Solve problems individually or as a team

● Create new ideas and solutions

● Reward and recognize one another

Shopee believes their 5 Values and their Way of Simple, Happy and Together will help create a unique organizational culture that everyone can be proud of, and a great

1.1.4.2 Core value of the company

Unlike other organizations that lay out a five-, ten-, or even twenty-year mission vision with precise numbers, Shopee seizes every great opportunity and is ready to putpotential opportunities into action In reality, they've gone from a small-scale e-

commerce platform to a multinational company in a short period of time

So, where is the guideline to ensure that they are all looking in the same direction andthat we are doing the right thing? That's what Core Values are all about As I

mentioned above, there are 5 core values that each of employee of Shopee must

follow:

● We serve: having a spirit of always serving, always adding value to others, not

only with customers but also with coworkers The value of Shopee’s services is solely determined by our customers Shopee strives to exceed customer expectations, deliver above and beyond

● We adapt: In the digital age, the only constant is rapid change Shopee welcome

change, celebrate it and strive to be a thought leader who has an impact on it Their change

is also driven by market changes, with sellers' demand shifting As a result, the company must adapt to meet and serve the market, ensuring Shopee's long-term success To survive the wave of e-commerce change, each employee must be an expert in the fields in which they work When being equipped with enough knowledge & skills, no matter what the situation, they will still have a solution

● We run: Shopee is in a never-ending race for success while dealing with

constantly shifting forces Every day, they move faster, better, and with greater urgency

● We commit: working is commitment Shopee commits to our values, institution,

customers, and partners They commit to each other Above all, they commit to doing the best they can and being the best they are

● We stay humble: Believe they are always the underdog, and seek to learn from

the market and competitors Accept that Shopee is not perfect, and will never be Work hard first, celebrate and enjoy later

Shopee has grown by leaps and bounds over the years and has seen many changes along the way, but the core part of Shopee’s identity has not changed They believe being Simple, Happy and Together as Shopee Way of doing things, will continue tofoster an exciting work environment where people can develop professionally, buildcloser bonds with one another, and unite together to innovate.

Shopee way defines how they do things, fulfilling their responsibilities as

individuals and as a team How they do things and how they say it, thus becomes equally important as what Shopee do and say

● Simple: believing in simplicity and integrity, ensuring a life that’s honest, down

to earth and true to self

● Happy: friendly, fun-loving and bursting with heaps of energy, spreading joy

with everyone they meet

● Together: enjoying spending quality time together while shopping online with

friends and family - doing the things they love as a big unit

1.2 Organizational Structure

1.2.1 Business model

Shopee is an application using C2C and B2C model that allows users to create an account on Shopee and then make purchases and sales transactions entirely on theirmobile devices or computers, acting as an intermediary between buyers and sellers.Shopee also integrates third-party shipping to streamline the buying and selling

process for users

1.2.2 Structure and function of each department

This is the organizational chart of Shopee Vietnam

Figure 1.2: Organizational Structure

Source: Shopee

Operations Department: Ensure that all Seller orders are fulfilled If BD/Seller Care

is in charge of increasing orders for sellers, Operations is in charge of ensuring that all incoming orders are completed and delivered to the Buyer without any issues There are 12 departments in operation department:

- Customer Service: Receive information (questions, complaints, reports) from buyers, handle complaints related to returns and refunds

- SOS: seller operation suport handle issue related to penalty point and favorite shop approval

- Fraud & Process Excellence: Fraud team acts as a security officer, dealing with suspicious user activity either due to misuse of the Shopee program or a fraud that harms other users This abuse at Shopee is divided into 2, namely Fraud and Scammer

- Process Excellence will build and manage processes/projects, aggregateinformation and data to ensure team members understand the workflow

- Logistics: develop operating standards manage shipping quality, optimize shipping quality and standards, and implement logistics-related projects Contact logistics team for urgent cases; crisis issues after CS results; other concerns related to 3PLs

- CX: Based on data and analysis to offer solutions to improve Buyer & Seller experience on Shopee From customer-friendly messages to user-friendly solutions,

features and policies, this data team offers solutions

- Payment: responsible for paying the seller on time, solving other arising

problems related to the Shopee wallet for the seller Include 4 teams:

Outbound Payment, Inbound Payment, Reconciliation and PMO

- Product: solve problems related to Shopee app, website and BE errors, build tools for other teams to work more efficiently

- QC/Listing: check listing quality, handle reported accounts, spam listings, answer complaints about listing-related issues, customer accounts are locked, handle

intellectual property violations, support BD recap Ensure the seller's posts on the platform:

do not violate the state regulations on prohibited items from trading, sell the right goods with the right quality of product information

- Sourcing: schedule incoming goods with the warehouse, work with BD to createimport requisitions, work with suppliers on import information and

process payments payment

- BD Department: acquiring seller to create a variety of items and categories and maintain relationships with sellers to achieve revenue for Shopee

- Support Department include 4 small teams:

+ Finance: in charge of financial affairs

+ HR: in charge of human resource needs of all departments

+ Legal: supporting all administrative and legal procedures to operate the business

+ SA (System Admin): supporting to ensure the smooth running of the

computers, network devices, printers as well as end users’ requirements

- Marketing Department:

+ The Marketing team at Shopee is responsible for conceptualizing and implementing go-to-market activities to achieve increased usage and visibility

+ The team covers areas including Campaigns Management, Community, Public Relations, Partnerships, Offline Marketing and Design.

+ The Regional Marketing team is responsible for strategizing and

implementing go-to-market activities and working with local teams to localize marketing for the specific markets

+ The Brand and Growth Marketing team covers all aspects of online and performance marketing for the region This team is responsible for data-driven solutions, tracking and measuring data to reach the targeted customers

Figure 1.3: Vietnam’s ecommerce landscape

Source: TECHINASIA

Here are some characteristics of the e-commerce industry in Vietnam:

● Chasing the market: from the chart, we will notice that Vietnam’s general

B2C/C2C e-commerce and electronics vertical e-commerce spaces are rathercrowded, with many startups vying for a piece of the pie

● Uniquely Vietnam: B2B e-commerce in Indonesia is on a hot streak, but that’snot the case for Vietnam, as its B2B e-commerce industry remains pretty much anunexplored frontier

● Crashing in: In the last 3 years, the total value of e-commerce deals closed annually in Vietnam has steadily gone up Some of the best-funded e-commerce startups in country include Tiki (US$130 million, June 2020) and Sendo (US$61 million, Nov 2019)

*Business performance compare to other competitors

Some reports show that Shopee has left its rivals far behind and that Tiki is competingequally with Lazada, while Sendo is in the fourth position

Figure 1.4: The numbers of visits to wesbites from Q1 to Q4 2020

(source: Vietnamnet)

Figure 1.5: The Map of E-commerce in Vietnam

(source: Iprice)

According to iPrice, Shopee led in both the number of visits to the website and the ranking of apps on Android and iOS in the entire year 2020 Tiki and Lazada are onthe same par, while Sendo has been left behind

In terms of monthly visitors, Shopee had 43 million in Q1 2020, more than double the number of Tiki, which was in second place Shopee's monthly visits increased to 68.7 million in Q1 2021, more than tripling Tiki's In 2020 The app of the platform also ranked No 1 in 2020

When it came to Lazada and Tiki, Tiki had a slightly higher number of visits than Lazada Tiki received 22.5 million monthly visits on average in 2020, compared to

19.8 million for Lazada Sendo, on the other hand, was in fourth place, with monthlyvisits falling from 17.6 million in Q1 to 11.2 million in Q4 2020

In Q1 2020, Tiki’s app ranked second for iOS operating system However, it has

slipped to third place since the second quarter Meanwhile, Shopee and Lazada, two

foreign platforms, have taken the top two spots, pushing the two Vietnamese

platforms to the bottom of the top four

*Why did Shopee become so popular?

What factors did customers consider when purchasing products on an e-commerce

platform? Obviously, it’s low price This is Shopee's first C2C strategy for attracting

buyers and users to the Shopee app This strategy is also in line with their mission is

to assist small and medium-sized businesses The C2C model at that time helped

Shopee build a huge network, connecting buyers and sellers without any inventory

concerns On the other hand, Shopee also creates a "word of mouth" effect when

owning a "market" of diverse products with professional customer care and logistics

services, promoting a dizzying increase in the wave of online purchases In short,

Shopee try to build a model close to the market, close to the Vietnamese people

According to financial reports from Shopee's first years in Vietnam, the company

spent up to 90% of its marketing budget on promotional campaigns, free shipping,

flash sales, and vouchers for both buyers and sellers in order to attract a large number

of customers from various platforms

However, in order to achieve the current brand positioning, Shopee's "localization"

strategy must be implemented when the company hires local employees who are

familiar with local culture and customs to work with banks and logistics partners

in each country to ensure a smooth shopping and delivery experience

From this foundation, Shopee has lauched Shopee Mall, which is a title reserved for

those partners who own, or are authorized to distribute, genuine Shopee

trademarks, directly competing with Lazada - the "giant" of commerce at the time

1.3.2 Financial statement from 2017 to 2020

Table 1.1: Net Profit Situation

Shopee launched "Shopee Mall" in 2018, which contributed greatly to the revenue Shopee optimizes operations in 2019, lowering selling costs Shopee Vietnam had a fantastic year in the e-commerce market thanks to increased sales, lower business management costs, increased display advertising investment, and the launch of

"Shopee Game." In conclusion, the company's revenue increased by 152 percent year over year at the end of 2019 2020 was an extraordinary year for Shopee In a

challenging environment, Shopee adapted quickly to serve our communities and addressed the fast-evolving needs of our buyers and sellers As a result, we have cemented Shopee’s position as the favourite e-commerce platform for both buyers and sellers across Viet Nam In Viet Nam markets, e-commerce adoption continues togrow at an accelerated pace and we believe that, as the go to online shopping

platform, Shopee will successfully capture and further drive these growth

opportunities

1.4 Introduction of Internship Position

1.4.1 Internship position

Position: Business Development Intern

Department: Business Development Department, FMCG cluster, Health &

Beauty category

1.4.2 Introduction of Bussiness Development Department - FMCG cluster

FMCG industry includes 5 categories: Health and Beauty, Moms, Kids &

Babies, Grocery, Pet supplies and Homecare Business Development Departmentinclude 3 departments:

● Seller management: Take care of top sellers’ performance via deal hunting, flashsale, daily campaign

● Mall/ Retail: Drive brands / SBS via campaign, flash sale and optimize margin /inventor

● Merchandising: Drive campaign (onsite visibility, budget, Flash sale) and projects, clubs

● Top brands: The Ordinary, Foreo, LA ROCHE-POSAY, COSRX, Klairs, Innisfree, Kiehl's, Simple, Paula's Choice, ROMAND

● Trends shifted to healthcare products such as masks, antiseptic solutions, etc due to Covid

● Top sellers always have their strategic product, and some sellers have more than

1 shop on Shopee

Business development entails tasks and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities within and between organizations Business development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships

1.4.2 Description of Internship Tasks

During your three-month internship with Shopee's business development team, my main responsibility will be to assist senior staff in managing retail sellers on the

exchange and to work directly with the order management staff, in order to help them complete your tasks more quickly This is a scope of work of an business developmentintern

● Negotiate and promote co-operations with partners (sellers), ensuring C2C or B2C seller base development of categories of Shopee

● Establishing contact and conducting sales meetings with key decision makers toconvince them to join Shopee marketplace

● Conducting necessary follow-up to ensure sales process completion until the seller is live

● Provide market insights from sellers' perspective, including understanding products, sellers, market & competitor dynamics

● Developing online merchandising and promotion proposals to achieve sales targets

● Prospecting leads and identifying key business partners for Shopee platform

● Track, care and evaluate activities of the partners (sellers)

● Perform other duties as assigned by the Line Manager

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEMS ANALYSIS

2.1 Working process of business development staff

Business Development is an important role, in which being a bridge to connect sellers and their potential customers by leveraging platform tools/programs, end results to

increase the performance of the seller's business and also my commercial KPI

*Day in life of a BD staff

- Sales Performance

● Plan monthly target ADO/GMV for sellers

● Allocate properly real estate in terms of flash and exposure on all kinds of campaigns, that should be in line with growing target per seller

● Study hot searches in market as well as platform, analyze existing data of category to suggest best skus/product both sellers have or not have yet for them to stock up

or sort out to match buyer demand all the time

● Identify competitive price – vs competitor, vs last campaigns to suggest seller

on pricing for skus on daily basis, also in campaigns to increase CR and get more sales as a result

● Like pricing, planning stock for sellers based on historical data per item/size of product, helps sellers better manage their importing and producing activities Avoid break time due to lack of stock problems

● Review sales performance of the seller on a daily/weekly basis to make sure everything that is put in plan be executed from the seller 's side

● Tracking closely performance for overall performance, entire shop to single products to really understand biz on a daily basis

● Proactively reach out and discuss with sellers if seeing any changes versus plan and discuss for improvement right away to secure performance

● Work with sellers on top products (deals) which matched with certain flash slots and campaigns (category campaign/platform campaign/initiative campaign) Quality deals should have competitive prices compared to historical data, also competitors and enough stock.

● Educate sellers features which developed to help sellers actively market theirproduct to buyers by themselves instead of relying on allocated resources e.g Paid ads, Inshop Flash sale/bundle/add-on/Feed/Livestream

● Support sellers during the time they join the program (FSS/Paid Ads/CCB ) to help solve any issue they may have

● Educate sellers to use features on Shopee: paid ads, in shop Flash

sale/bundle/add-on, Shopee feed

2.2 Information about supporting teams

Among many departments in Shopee, there are some departments that BD usuallycontacted

* Operational team

- The Operation team at Shopee covers the operational end-to-end process, from when the buyer searches for a product listed on the Shopee platform to the moment the buyer receives the products

- The team analyses and monitors operational KPIs across the region and conducts rootcause analysis when operation performance fluctuates

- The Operations team comprises Customer Service, Payment, Listings, Warehouse, Logistics, Seller Operations and Fraud.

* Flash sale team

- The flash sale team is very familiar to BD because they are in charge of dividing the slot for each PIC After BD has submitted the flash sale deal, they will check if it is in the correct format and does not violate any QC team rules, and then the price tag team will continue the task by confirming the price tag and checking the inventory At the end of the process, the flash sale team double-checks that all of the deals were submitted correctly, and the merchandise team receives the deal list and launches the flash sale on time

Figure 2.1: Flash sale submit process

(source: Shopee)

* Banner team

- The banner team will be in charge of any campaign to promote Shopee offers and vouchers via the homepage banner This will increase sales for both the seller and the category A campaign will include: Affiliate marketing, home banner, landing page and online marketing

- The banner team serves as a bridge between the merchandise, price tag, and business development teams To complete a campaign, the banner team will collaborate on planning and execution If there are any problems with the campaign, they will fix them

2.3 The situation of e-commerce platform during the Covid-19 pandemic

- Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has changed long-standing habits, making even the elderly and consumers who are loyal only to traditional ways of