Vietnam e-commerce key facts and trends (updated Apr 2019)

Following the previous post about Vietnam digital marketing landscape, today post will look at e-commerce landscape in Vietnam, in comparison with other countries in the region for better context.

1. Total retail sales in Vietnam is expected to be $154B in 2019

The above countries are ranked based on their population. It gives us a sense of scale in different markets. Next is expected growth rate in 2020.

2. Vietnam expected retail growth rate is 8.5% in 2020, much higher than growth rate in many other countries

Japan is the outliner given the much older population vs the rest.

Retail in Vietnam is benefited from a good economy growth rate, expected to be 6.6% in 2019

3. Retail e-commerce in Vietnam in 2019 is expected to be lower than $3B

4. E-commerce in Vietnam still has a huge potential to grow as its penetration is tiny (less than 2%)

5. Given the smaller size, Vietnam e-commerce growth rate is underwhelming in comparison to other countries

eMarketer also forecasts the growth rate to decelerate in Vietnam in the next few years to about 10% in 2023.

6. About half of the total retail e-commerce in Vietnam happens on mobile devices, on par with other countries

7. Unlike the retail e-commerce, digital travel sales in Vietnam is expected to triple in the next 6 years or about 14.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)

This is normal in comparison to other developing economies i.e. larger number of people in the middle income bracket often lead to more travel. If the country has good internet infrastructure then online booking (flight, hotel etc.) should naturally increase.

8. There are a good mix of local and international e-commerce players amongst the top 10 in Vietnam by visit

9. 11 key facts about Vietnam economy in 2020 amid COVID 19

Given the global interest in the Vietnam economy, especially during COVID 19, I wrote an article about 11 key facts and trends about Vietnam economy in 2020. I cover Vietnam estimated 2020 GDP growth rate, 2020 Foreign Direct Investment, Export, Import, Emerging middle class, Human capital index, Competitiveness index, etc.

That’s all from me. Do you have anything to add?

Cheers,

Chandler