Last year, e-commerce revenues increased to $5 billion, accounting for about three per cent of the total retail trade and services revenue. It has become an indispensable extension for businesses as a rapidly growing country with growing Internet connectivity deepens its global integration process.The development of multi-channel businesses that combines physical stores with an online presence has become an inevitable trend.

Viet Nam has a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of more than six per cent per year. Internet connectivity is growing by 50 per cent plus every year. Online marketing revenues in the country increased from US$26 million to nearly $330 million in the 2010-2015 period.It is not surprising that with these advantages, the nation’s e-commerce market has witnessed the entrance of large players in the last few years.

The Vingroup officially stepped into e-commerce in 2015 with its Adayroi trading floor. Earlier, several savvy entrepreneurs had launched online shopping websites that became popular, like sendo.vn, nguyenkim.com, tiki.vn, zalora.vn and lazada.vn.The South Korean Lotte Group also entered e-commerce market in Viet Nam last year with its lotte.vn website. It was followed soon by Japan’s largest retailer Aeon, which launched aeoneshop.com at the beginning of this month.

Given their brand prominence and their large story systems, aeoneshop.com and lotte.vn are expected to offer stiff competition to sites like lazada.vn and tiki.vn that currently dominate the domestic market.E-commerce revenues in Viet Nam reached $4.07 billion in 2015, a 37 per cent year-on-year increase. It also accounted for about 2.8 per cent of total retail trade and services revenue.

More than half the Vietnamese respondents said they purchased books, music and stationery products (51 per cent) and 47 per cent said they bought travel products or services online.Four in 10 respondents (40 per cent) said they purchased personal-care and beauty products online.About one-fourth (26 per cent) said they placed online orders for babies and infants; an equal number ordered meal-kits or restaurant deliveries and one-fifth ordered packaged groceries online.

Source:vietnamnet