The above information was discussed at the Vietnam E-commerce Panorama Forum 2024 (VOBF 2024) taking place in Hanoi on the morning of April 25 with the theme “Sustainable E-commerce”. The forum was organized by the Vietnam Trade Association. Vietnam e-commerce (VECOM) organization.
Strong development in scale…
According to Ms. Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the Department of E-Commerce (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Vietnamese e-commerce in the past 10 years has developed strongly at a rate of 16-30%/year. Retail revenue in 2023 increases by 25% compared to 2022, reaching 20.5 billion USD.
Through a survey by NielsenIQ Vietnam, Ms. Le Minh Trang, NIQ Retail Research Department, said that the number of digital commerce buyers is 60 million people. Every day there are 3.5 million visits to e-commerce sites. The number of weekly internet shoppers in Vietnam ranked 11th globally, 90% of consumers intend to maintain and increase the use of e-commerce platforms in shopping.
Information from AccessTrade Vietnam also shows that the three most popular livestream sales platforms in Vietnam are Facebook (31.9%), Shopee (30.9%) and TikTok (17.2%). On average, each month there are 2.5 million livestream sales sessions, with the participation of more than 50 thousand sellers. Up to 77% of digital consumers have ever watched a sales livestream, 71% of which have made purchases during the livestream.
However, the opposite of rapid growth in scale is unsustainability. That is, e-commerce revenue only accounts for 8% of the total retail revenue of consumer goods and services nationwide, lower than the world average of 19.4%. Vietnam’s e-commerce is only developing concentratedly in big cities; lack of connection between regions to take advantage; Violations of consumer rights are still quite common; negative impact on the environment, especially the delivery and packaging stages.
“In particular, we are witnessing many new trends in e-commerce. If Vietnam does not keep up, it will cause Vietnamese e-commerce to stagnate and not develop its potential,” Ms. Le Hoang Oanh emphasized.
Combining technology and branding
To develop e-commerce widely and erase the gap between regions, speakers participating in the forum said that businesses and sellers need to take full advantage of the advantages of digital commerce.
Regarding the successful formula for sustainable growth, General Director of Accesstrade Vietnam Do Huu Hung cited evidence of e-commerce “giants” such as: SHEIN, TEMU, SHOPEE… that continuously grow thanks to marketing. effectively through the use of diverse introductory content, appearing quality to consumers, attracting customers at every touch point and increasing customer “lifecycle” value through increasing the number of purchases, increasing purchase value, increase the number of referrals.
In addition, according to Mr. Thai Huu Ly (Head of Service Development, Vietnam Internet Center), businesses need to build a “.vn” domain name as the basis for digital brand recognition, and is also an element decisive in building trust and ensuring safety for both businesses and consumers.
Meanwhile, Ecomstone Vietnam CEO Tran Quy Hien said that to create sustainable growth and advantages for cross-border trade, businesses need to use technology in combination with highlighting their value. and unique characteristics of Vietnamese products. In particular, it is important to promote products through stories associated with the unique features and heritage of each countryside and place; Developing unique Vietnamese products… to attract international buyers.
According to Chairman of Vietnam E-commerce Association Nguyen Ngoc Dung, since 2019, VECOM has proposed a sustainable e-commerce development program and in recent years has actively implemented a number of specific activities. During the 2023-2025 period, VECOM will advise and support state management agencies to research and propose policies and laws towards sustainable development of the digital economy in general and e-commerce in particular, at the same time. At the same time, propagate and mobilize the online business community to actively implement specific activities.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is implementing many solutions to promote e-commerce development. Accordingly, build a traceability system (Tuyxuat.gov.vn) to trace the origin of products, fight against counterfeit goods, build online brands and market products in the environment. electronic; Deploying the Local Booth model on e-commerce platforms to provide synchronous solutions to help small and medium-sized businesses in localities distribute local products through digital platforms, narrowing the gap. regions; Program to support businesses exporting through cross-border e-commerce…
“In the near future, the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy will advise the Ministry of Industry and Trade to submit to the Government the orientation for e-commerce development in the period 2026-2030, focusing on solutions for trade development. green, sustainable electronics, best protecting consumer rights, narrowing the gap in e-commerce development between provinces and cities,” Ms. Le Hoang Oanh said.
