In the Vietnam E-commerce Panorama Forum 2021, organized by the Vietnam E- Commerce Association on April 20, 2021, in Hanoi, experts affirmed, "In 2020, in the context of most economic sectors being negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam e-commerce goes against the trend, with the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia."
In August 2021, a report by Lazada, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, showed that up to 52% of sellers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore achieved high revenue growth in the first half of 2021, while 70% expected that the revenue growth would continue to be increased by 10% in the third quarter of 2021.
By the end of 2020, according to experts, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing e- commerce markets in Southeast Asia, second only to Indonesia. Vietnam is also one of the two countries (along with Indonesia) with strong growth in e-commerce website traffic in the region.
In Vietnam, according to the E-commerce White Paper 2021, B2C e-commerce revenue has also continuously increased sharply in the past 5 years. Specifically, in 2016, this figure only reached 5 billion USD, by 2019, the revenue has doubled, reaching more than 10 billion USD and in 2020 it is 11.8 billion USD, with a growth of 18 % compared with the last year. According to calculations by world major corporations such as Google, Temasek, and Bain&Company, it is likely that the scale
of Vietnam's digital economy will surpass the threshold of 52 billion USD and hold the third position in the ASEAN region by 2025.
In particular, Google's Southeast Asian internet economic report forecasts that Vietnam's e-commerce will reach about US$29 billion by 2025 with a growth rate of 34% compared to 2020.
In addition, the proportion of new online shoppers, out of the total number of online shoppers in Vietnam also accounts for the highest proportion (about 41%) in the region, by 2020. Compare this rate to an average of about 36% in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines with 37%, Malaysia at 36%, Singapore and Thailand and 30%.
In the annual report, "SYNC Southeast Asia" (SYNC Southeast Asia) of Facebook and consulting firm Bain & Company (USA) announced on November 25, 2021, Vietnam is forecasted to be a developed e-commerce market. fastest in Southeast Asia by 2026, with total e-commerce merchandise value (GMV) reaching $56 billion, 4.5 times the estimated value in 2021. Vietnam is at the forefront of driving change and seizing development opportunities based on digital transformation in the post-COVID- 19 pandemic.
The study surveyed about 16,700 digital consumers and more than 20 senior staff in six Southeast Asian countries, including 3,579 respondents from Vietnam. The study
describes Southeast Asia as a leader in digital transformation in Asia-Pacific and Vietnam as one of the countries with the best performance.
2. Changing traditional buying habits:
In 2021, Vietnam's e-commerce will grow strongly, continue to boom, and play an important role in promoting socio-economic development, creating new consumption trends. The number of categories of goods purchased by Vietnamese online shoppers this year has increased by 50% compared to 2020, while the number of online stores in Vietnam has also increased by 40% year-on-year, thanks to that total online retail sales nationwide increased by 1.5 times. About 49% of Vietnamese consumers have switched to online shopping within the last 3 months based on considerations for price incentives (45%), product quality (,34%), and availability of products. goods (33%).
The Industrial Revolution 4.0 has promoted e-commerce activities, and forms of online sales (via e-commerce websites/apps; e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, Sendo, Shopee...) to flourish more than ever, for the first time. Shopping for goods via e-commerce has become a major, safe and effective method of distribution, promoting immediate effectiveness in the context of the epidemic, fully providing people's necessities.
Lazada Vietnam's report covers e-commerce in Southeast Asia and Vietnam in 2021, where e-commerce has promoted and contributed strongly to economic growth in the context of the pandemic.
Accordingly, despite challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 is considered a prosperous year for the digital economy across Southeast Asia, in which e-commerce is the main growth driver. According to Statista, the value of the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia has increased 24 times in the past 6 years, from 5 billion USD in 2015 to 120 billion USD in 2021; and is expected to reach 234 billion USD by 2025.
Vietnam's retail e-commerce market is forecasted to increase by 300%, from 13 billion USD in 2021 to 39 billion USD in 2025.
Explaining this growth, the report notes that the driving force comes from the trend of grocery shopping on the e-commerce floor, the increase in the number of new sellers (meaning that more and more sellers want to develop their products). business development on online channels), and people's response to Shoppertainment activities
(shopping combined with entertainment). In particular, the strong investment in internal logistics systems has helped e-commerce platforms to solve the difficult supply chain disruption problem in the past year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed traditional consumer shopping habits to e- commerce. Consumers are shopping more online, which creates a great opportunity for businesses to step up their digital media strategy and make a stronger footprint in the online market. E-commerce has become a commonly used transaction method, the optimal choice of businesses as well as consumers, the trend of converting from traditional business to a digital platform is becoming more and more popular and is the solution to the problem. Effective solutions to help businesses expand their markets, and find models to optimize flexible export resources.
In 2021, people have changed many consumer habits and behaviors. "Overall, the age of online consumers on e-commerce platforms has expanded, they spend more time on e-commerce platforms, and are willing to place orders of greater quantity and value," the report said.
3. Outstanding development trends:
Specifically, 58% of Vietnamese consumers said that they will continue to shop for department stores on the e-commerce platform because of the convenience and this habit will remain with 53% admitting that buying online department stores has become a part of their lives.
Besides, Vietnamese consumers are also willing to spend more online. The data shows that the percentage of online consumers shopping over 5 million VND in 2020 has increased significantly compared to 2019. Lazada also recorded the highest value of an order of up to 300 million VND and 50 million VND per order. LazMall - genuine store system in 2021.
Analyzing changes in the sales audience, the report found that e-commerce platforms attracted more sellers, especially from FMCG’s fast-moving consumer goods.
Two recent reports from Lazada Vietnam show that the number of sellers in the second quarter of 2021 has doubled compared to the same period last year, and this
compared to the same period last year. The third quarter also saw major food and beverage (F&B) brands participating in the business on Lazada. This has contributed to the highest growth in the number of FMCG sellers in 2021.
In addition, the number of new sellers in non-urban areas has also increased significantly in the past year. According to Lazada's latest statistics for the first 11 months of 2021, up to 40% of new sellers on the platform come from non-urban areas.
While the number of new sellers from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is 29% and 31%, respectively.
4. How are businesses adapting to the new normal?
Experts also analyze the fundamental difference between online and offline business as experience and connection. Unlike offline shopping, where buyers can "touch and see" products firsthand, the online environment needs more effort from sellers to build
"virtual connections" with customers.
Shoppertainment - a shopping strategy that combines entertainment - with a variety of activities such as live streams, and actual product reviews, is the "key" to helping help brands and sellers untie this knot, thereby promoting push revenue. The proof is that even during the peak period of social distancing in 2021, the LazGame "Lizzie Star" game attracted more than 750,000 players and the revenue from LazLive increased 22 times. During Lazada's 11.11 Shopping Festival, the SuperShow concert recorded 26 million views and sales through SuperShow increased 20 times.
Last year, logistics continued to be a differentiating factor among e-commerce platforms. This comes from methodical investment in the internal logistics infrastructure system or initiatives toward social and community purposes. Lazada Logistics has launched many initiatives to maintain stability and speed up the delivery process; thereby meeting the basic needs of the people. To adapt to the situation of social distancing on a large scale and lasting for more than 4 months in Ho Chi Minh City, Lazada has flexibly opened 5 more satellite goods sorting centers in Tan Phu, District 4, Thu City. Duc and Hoc Mon district to ensure timely distribution of goods.
AI technology is also applied to the delivery stage to ensure the shortest transportation route.
During the 2021 Shopping Festival 11.11, Lazada achieved the record for the fastest delivery order – within 30 minutes of the order being recorded until the delivery was successful to the customer. More impressively, during the 12.12 Shopping Festival, Lazada's fastest delivery order took just 8 minutes.
The global e-commerce market is forecasted to continue to see strong growth in revenue in the coming years. This statement is once again emphasized in the 2021 Vietnam E-commerce White Paper, which has just been published by the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy. Citing a statistical report from eMaketer.com, the white paper compares: if in 2020, global B2C e-commerce revenue reaches $4,280, in 2021, this figure will be at $4,891 billion, and in 2022 it will to $5.424 billion. In 2023, revenue will reach $ 5,908 billion and in 2024, $ 6,388 billion.