Vietnamese men more into beauty products online than women

The survey, conducted by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm DecisionLab, found that in the preceding three months, 58% of the male respondents said they had purchased beauty products online, compared to 49% of women.

The survey polled more than 1,900 people.

More men also bought clothing, footwear, cooking ingredients, mobile phones, home appliances and long distance travel packages online last year.

The research also found variation across categories depending on where the pre-shopping research was conducted.

Online research was mostly done for big ticket items like mobile phones, home appliances, hotel stays, cinema tickets, travel, insurance and beauty products.

For non-durables like food and beverages, people chose to shop offline.

In the use of mobile devices to shop online, Facebook was the most popular gateway in Vietnam, especially for clothes and beauty products, the survey found.

The World Bank has forecast that Vietnam’s US$200-billion economy is likely to grow to a trillion dollars by 2035.

More than half of its population, compared to only 11% today, is expected to join the ranks of the global middle class with consumption of US$15 a day or more.

Across the country, the ratio of people using smartphones among mobile phone subscribers reached 84% in 2017, up from 78% the previous year, according to the 2017 Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insights Report.

Online sales in Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, currently accounting for 3.39% of the country’s retail market. The total retail market grew 10.9% last year to US$173.27 billion, local media reports said.