E-commerce sales expected to hit 30 billion USD by year end

E-commerce sales in Vietnam are expected to reach 30 billion USD by the end of this year, heard a meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City by the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency and the city’s Investment & Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) on July 29.

Nearly 800 billion VND (31.65 million USD) worth of goods were sold on the country’s top five e-commerce platforms of Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo and Tiktok Shop every day, ITPC Deputy Director Ho Thi Quyen quoted a report by market analysis firm Metric.

Sales on the platforms in the first half of the year amounted to 143.9 trillion VND, surging 54.91% as compared to the retail industry’s growth of 7.4%.

Metric pointed out that the growth mainly came from TikTok Shop and Shopee.

Only Tiktok Shop and Shopee registered positive growth rates of 150.54% and 65.96% in revenue in the period.

Meanwhile, Lazada, Tiki and Sendo saw negative growth in both revenue and sale volumes. The report pointed out that Lazada’s revenue fell by 43.81% and Tiki by 48.55%.

Metric said that both Shopee and Tiktok Shop successfully took advantage of livestream shopping trend, while notably, the number of shop malls increased by 12.29% in the period.

The top 10 brands with the highest e-commerce revenue included only one Vietnamese brand – Vinamilk - raising a need for domestic brands to develop business strategies to compete in the domestic e-commerce market.

Metric predicted that the demand for school supplies with prices of below 50,000 VND per item will increase in August and early September as a new school year begins.

Various kinds of shopping developed strongly, particularly social media live streaming commerce, and multi-channel sales, during the six-month p, bringing huge revenue for sellers.

Quyen said that business skills on the digital platforms have become significant in developing brands and images for enterprises and cooperatives, adding such digital tools as social media, livestreaming and email marketing help firms not only reach out to more customers but also optimise their business management and operation.

Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency Le Hoang Tai highlighted that in order to capitalise on the opportunities that the digital platforms have brought about, companies should equip themselves with new business skills which are in accordance with the current trend.

In the coming time, the agency will continue joining hands with its partners to organise programmes to support businesses, cooperatives and household businesses in promoting trade via digital platforms and bolstering agricultural digital economy, while helping them access new technologies and expand their markets./.