Overview of Vietnam’s cross-border e-commerce market and main platforms

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located in the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula, bordering China’s Guangxi and Yunnan to the north. It has a long and narrow land and a unique geographical location. As an important market in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has a large and young population, and the penetration rate of the Internet continues to increase, which has laid a solid foundation for the country’s e-commerce development.

According to statistics, Vietnamese netizens spend more than 3 hours online every day on average. Among young people, especially those aged 16 to 35, the smartphone usage rate reaches about 70%. This situation has led to the gradual transformation of Vietnam’s e-commerce model to mobile and socialization. The commercial value of social platforms such as Facebook has been widely explored and has become an important channel for many merchants.

Although Vietnam’s e-commerce market has huge potential, it originally relied less on large-scale e-commerce platforms and was mainly built by local companies. Lazada is the largest e-commerce platform on the market, followed by local platforms such as Tiki and Sendo. The following is a detailed introduction to Vietnam’s main e-commerce platforms:

1. Tiki

Tiki is the second largest e-commerce platform in Vietnam and is known for its low return rate and high customer satisfaction. Unlike Lazada, this platform enjoys a good reputation among local consumer groups. Tiki does not charge a store opening fee, but will charge a commission of 4% to 8% depending on the product category. For cross-border sellers, the cost of opening a store is relatively low.

2. Sendo

Sendo, founded in 2012, currently has more than 300,000 sellers and provides up to 29 different categories of products to about 10 million customers. The platform not only focuses on first-tier cities, but also takes into account the untapped second-tier city market. SenMall launched by Sendo is similar to the domestic Tmall. Its products must undergo strict review and provide relevant licenses stipulated by law to ensure consumers’ shopping experience and product quality.

3. The Gioi Di Dong

The Gioi Di Dong was established in 2004 and is the largest local mobile phone retail brand platform. In addition to having a strong online store, it also has a number of mobile phone chain stores and large consumer electronics stores. Its influence in the consumer electronics market cannot be underestimated, providing consumers with a variety of services and choices.

Given that Vietnam’s e-commerce market is developing rapidly and the advantages of logistics efficiency and supply chain management are also constantly improving, many Chinese companies have already occupied an important share of the Vietnamese market through cooperation with China. In addition, Vietnam’s relatively mature Internet infrastructure and huge consumer market provide broad space for new business opportunities.

Taken together, Vietnam’s e-commerce environment has high growth potential. Appropriate attention to market demand and social media commercial development will provide more business opportunities for merchants.