Vietnam to become fastest growing e-commerce market in SEA by 2026

This information was unveiled in the annual SYNC Southeast Asia report released by Facebook and Bain & Company.

The Vietnamese market is currently at the forefront of driving changes and seizing upon opportunities to thrive based on digital transformation as the world moves into the post-pandemic era, the report noted.

The study, which surveyed roughly 16,700 digital consumers and more than 20 C-level employees across six Southeast Asian countries, including 3,579 local participants, described Southeast Asia as a leader of digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region, with the nation hailed as one of the best performers.

Domestically, a total of seven out of 10 consumers enjoy digital access, with the country set to have 53 million digital consumers by the end of the year, Vietnamese media cited the report as saying.

The report went on to outline that the number of goods categories purchased by local consumers online this year went up by 50% compared to 2020, while those being made by online stores domestically also rose by 40% on-year, thereby resulting in a 1.5-fold rise in total online retail sales across the country.

Furthermore, approximately 49% of Vietnamese consumers switched to a new online marketplace within the last three months based on considerations of price incentives, at 45%, product quality, at 34%, and availability of goods, at 33%, according to the report.

The report points out that for the first time, payments using cash are at risk of being dethroned with a significant decrease from 60% in 2020 to only 42% last year. Safety, privacy, and service fees represent the three main concerns of Vietnamese consumers when considering these types of payment.

This year has seen local people spend the majority of time make use of social media, texting, watching videos, shopping online, and emailing, the report said, adding that they used 72% of their time for regular activities at home instead of going out.