Vietnam’s e-commerce market experienced a continuous growth from 2015 to 2018. Over 32% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Vietnam have established business relations with foreign partners through online channels. Vietnam’s e-commerce growth momentum is highly appreciated by “giants” like Alibaba.
According to a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, B2C e-commerce retail revenue increased by 30% in 2018 (equivalent to more than USD 8 billion), doubling the growth rate of 2015. It is estimated that e-retail revenue will reach USD 10 billion by 2020, which will put Vietnam on the list of the largest e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia.
Ms. Grace Hee – Director of Vietnam-based distribution channel of Alibaba Group, said that Vietnam has the potential to become the world’s trade and production center. 2019 has witnessed a change in Alibaba’s view of Vietnam. It has expressed great interest in this potential market. On Alibaba’s platform, the 10 most purchasing items including food, beverages, agricultural products, cosmetics, etc. are very compatible with Vietnam’s capacity.
This “giant” has affirmed that it would actively support Vietnamese businesses wishing to become members of the Alibaba ecosystem through Gold Supplier accounts, with which businesses will have to pay membership fees and are unlimitedly supported with web design as well as product posting.
Currently, according to statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the number of internet users in Vietnam is about 64 million, accounting for 66% of the total population. The number of online shoppers increased steadily during 2015-2018.
Despite the fact that the number of cybershoppers was 30.3 million in 2015 and 21.7 million in 2016 (a decrease of about 8.6 million), the value of online shopping in USD conducted by Vietnamese people still increased USD 10 million in 2016. In addition, the proportion of enterprises owning an e-commerce site is about 44% (2018 figures). The ratio of B2C ecommerce revenue compared to the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in 2018 reached about 4.2%.
More than 32% of SMEs have established business relationships with foreign partners through online channels, in which, B2C e-commerce has been of good support for exporters to directly access customers and global markets.
However, Vietnam’s e-commerce market is facing a major challenge where there are too many small-scale enterprises which are limited in resources and finance. Moreover, the capacity of cross-border e-commerce is still low. This requires the cooperation and support of major e-commerce corporations in the world.
Source: Alice Thao Le – VietnamCredit
https://vietnamcredit.com.vn/
