After a journey of more than a decade of "overcoming thousands of thorns", the Vietnamese e-commerce market is predicted to enter a period of "overcoming thousands of storms", with unpredictable competition between foreign platforms.
Shopee grows with mobile
The first stage when the e-commerce market was just beginning to form was also the time when the Internet was officially put into use in Vietnam (1997).
At that time, e-commerce had simple forms such as online classifieds and selling via email. But the explosion of mobile technology changed everything.
Shopee officially entered Vietnam in 2015, during the period when e-commerce began to explode with the appearance of many other platforms.
"At that time, we were a pioneer in developing e-commerce applications on mobile devices, designed to connect buyers and sellers anytime, anywhere," a representative of Shopee Vietnam told Tuoi Tre Online .
Optimizing the mobile e-commerce journey from the early days has contributed to changing shopping habits.
At the same time, this helps open bigger doors for investors. sell and brands increase touch points with target customers on a large scale.
Since 2019, it can be considered a period of maturity with many innovations when e-commerce is no longer simply a transaction between parties, but users begin to seek more connections and interactive experiences.
E-commerce has also become an indispensable part of Vietnamese users' lives.
Therefore, e-commerce platforms are constantly entering the race to experiment, revolutionize shopping and innovate themselves to attract customers and sellers to the platform.
The unpredictable race
The e-commerce market is becoming increasingly fierce, requiring businesses to not only have strong financial potential but also know how to take advantage of scale. In this context, domestic platforms have almost no chance to compete directly with global "giants".
Reality has proven that today's leading position does not guarantee sustainability in the future. The platforms that have been left behind are clear evidence of the harshness of this race.
Shopee and TikTok Shop are two typical examples of spectacular breakthroughs. When the market was once dominated by Lazada and Tiki, Shopee took only three years after entering Vietnam to surpass Lazada by the end of 2018, according to data from Asia Plus.
Shopee’s rise comes from a strategy that fits the trend. The platform quickly took over the market by focusing on the trend of consumers shifting from shopping via computers to mobile devices.
Shopee attracts small sellers, focuses on low-value products, exploits the market in second-tier cities, offers free shipping and implements an effective affiliate marketing program.
However, even as Shopee maintained its long-standing lead, TikTok Shop emerged and created a new wave.
Launched in mid-2022, in just one year, TikTok Shop surpassed Lazada to become the second largest e-commerce platform in Vietnam.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hieu, CEO of Vela Group, commented: “If we maintain the current growth rate, Shopee can still hold the number one position for the next two years. But from the third year onwards, things will be very unpredictable.”
New strategies
Although TikTok Shop, Shopee and other e-commerce platforms have differences in business models - from advertising, payment to logistics operations - they all aim for the same goal: attracting shoppers.
A prominent trend is the combination of entertainment and shopping to promote spending behavior, even when consumers do not have a pre-planned shopping plan. "Shopee is not only a trading platform, but also a place to connect, explore and enjoy," shared a representative of Shopee Vietnam.
The e-commerce industry is considered to be entering a period of "surpassing a thousand storms" with strong selection and the entry of many big competitors, especially from China.
One notable name is Temu, a subsidiary of PDD Holdings, with a strong marketing strategy and a dense promotion program. Despite facing legal challenges in new markets, Temu is expected to quickly return to Vietnam with careful preparation.
Besides, Lazada is also showing signs of revival after the restructuring period since 2018. With the new CEO, Lazada Vietnam has recently made many assessments and plans to compete in the market.
Source
Comment (0)