Vietnam targets 55 per cent of population shopping online by 2025
HANOI, May 19, 2020, The Hanoi Times. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City would make up half of the country’s e-commerce revenues in the next five years, The Hanoi Times reported.
The Vietnamese government targets around 55% of the population to shop online with an average spend of US$600 annually by 2025.
According to a government’s plan for the development of e-commerce by 2025 released on May 18, revenue from online sales of business-to-consumer e-commerce, known as B2C e-commerce, is set to grow by 25% per year to US$35 billion, accounting for 10% of total goods retail sales and service revenues.
Meanwhile, the government expects the rate of population using related services, including non-cash payment services, at 50%, and through intermediary payment services at 80%.
The plan aims to keep delivery costs at around 10% of product prices in e-commerce.
By 2025, 80% of e-commerce websites should be integrated with online shopping and 70% providing e-invoices.
Notably, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City would make up half of e-commerce revenues in the next five years.
The government envisions half of the country’s small and medium enterprises providing online shopping services (including via social networks); 40% having mobile apps; 70% providers of electricity, water, telecommunications and media services having e-contracts with customers.
Data and analytics firm Global Data forecast Vietnam’s e-commerce market to surpass VND399.5 trillion (US$17.3 billion) in 2023 from VND218.3 trillion (US$9.4 billion) in 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.3%.
According to GlobalData’s 2019 Banking and Payments Survey, cash is still the most preferred payment mode for e-commerce purchases in Vietnam, accounting for 35.6% in 2019. Alternative payment solutions are gradually gaining ground and accounting for 15.5% share. MoMo is the most preferred alternative payment solution in Vietnam, followed by PayPal.
Meanwhile, such strong growth of the market has prompted global companies to invest in Vietnamese e-commerce businesses. In 2018, Tiki, a local e-commerce company, received US$5.3 million and US$44 million funding from IT firm VNG Corporation and Chinese investor JD.com, respectively. In the same year, another company Sendo secured US$51 million from SBI Group (a Japan-based financial services company) and other investors. Furthermore, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba invested an additional US$2 billion in Lazada, one of the leading e-commerce companies in the country.