Vietnam online shopping hits 60% penetration - Market research Vietnam Indonesia

20 minute read.

Online shopping in Vietnam has boomed in the past 12 months, with 60% of consumers shopping online in HCMC and Hanoi. The profile of online shopping is growing at an exceptional rate as increasingly sophisticated digital platforms and devices become widely accessible and an integral part of daily life.

Spend even just a few hours in Vietnam’s bigger towns and cities and you’ll soon see how the country has embraced consumerism in recent years. Mobile phone shops, fashion chains and multi-level international-standard shopping malls point to an economy that is ever more in tune with the retail sector. But is everything as it seems?

The market research results in Cimigo’s recent report Cimigo on Vietnam online shopping unearths details that many people will find surprising.

Vietnam online shopping retail landscape

The early years of Vietnam’s e-commerce market has been dominated by food and beverage services with online food ordering quickly becoming a popular lifestyle choice for Vietnam’s young professionals. Now, however, there’s really nothing that can’t be purchased online and Vietnam’s online shoppers are taking full advantage of the choice available to them.

Whether it’s household and personal items such as furniture, clothing, cosmetics, gadgets or electronics – even lifestyle items such as event tickets, beauty services and online learning and study – shoppers of all ages are not just buying more things online but are doing so more often.

Purchase your Vietnam online shopping report here

Food and beverage purchases are still by far the most common online purchase, being made by shoppers every three days on average. This represents a huge cultural shift in Vietnam’s eating and dining habits. In fact, taking all online food and beverage items into account the figure rises to almost 20 purchases a month. This is remarkable considering that food delivery companies only started to get traction in Vietnam around five years ago, when there was very little scope for online ordering of general food and drink items.

Consumers have now past the tipping point for online shopping in Vietnam

So clearly we’re well past the novelty stage of ecommerce, where customers might nervously click their mouse to place an order and hope the item arrives. On the back of the familiarity and security of ordering food online several times a month, consumers now have confidence and trust in the wider shopping services available to them online and via mobile devices.

Two key factors are driving this retail revolution. Firstly, as commonly reported, Vietnam’s economy is booming and we’re in an era of young professionals having larger disposable incomes. Alongside this are the technological advances that not only give us the platforms to shop on but the means to access them, i.e. mobile devices.

Key online shopping platforms in Vietnam

As much as the demand for online shopping in Vietnam is increasing it can only be fuelled by providers giving consumers the platform to make choices and purchases. Currently the online market for general purchases is dominated by four companies – Lazada, Shopee, Tiki and Sendo – who have each built huge online marketplaces supported by sophisticated web technology and apps.

In 2018, these key online retailers enjoyed significant uptake of their mobile apps but this area is still dominated by the big social media companies, Facebook and Zalo. Around 80-90% of online shoppers have these two apps installed on devices, giving them immediate access to shopping at the touch or swipe of a screen.

Online shopping mobile apps in Vietnam

The mobile apps for the online retailers unsurprisingly don’t come close to those percentages but, across all ages, around 40% of online shoppers have installed Lazada and Shopee apps. In the case of Shopee, over half of younger shoppers (aged 18-35) have downloaded its mobile app. With mobile devices and apps becoming such a fundamental part of our lives we have to believe that online retailers will look to these channels as a way of increasing market share in what will become an increasingly competitive arena.

Facebook is commonly used for fashion, which accounts for almost two-thirds of purchases made through the portal. With the social media giant’s omnipresent position and the ease with which independent retailers can create fan pages and online stores, it’s not surprising that younger, fashion-conscious shoppers are migrating to Facebook instead of the malls.

The online platforms are finding their niches too. Lazada relies heavily on fashion sales but nearly a quarter of their sales are for electronics, including gadgets and accessories, making them the leading marketplace in this sector.

Whilst Shopee is also strong on fashion they are the strongest marketplace when it comes to cosmetics and personal care items. However, if we want to look at an online company that has truly captured a market segment then that would be Tiki, whose books and stationery market share exceeds all other marketplaces combined.

Purchase your Vietnam online shopping report here

With online shopping still in its infancy in Vietnam, these channels have the opportunity to both strengthen their areas of specialisation as well as gain sizable growth in the smaller segments. The product lines that are maybe not eye-catching now, could well provide significant revenue streams as more Vietnamese consumers shop online.

Vietnam online shopping transaction values

As online retail shopping finds its feet it’s understandable that shopping platforms and online stores focus on site visits, page views and customer retention ahead of transaction value. With massive investments made in technology and marketing, winning customers – and keeping them loyal – is key.

However, longer term, online companies will undoubtedly want to see shoppers spending more on higher value items. Currently, almost a half of transactions have a value of under VND300,000 (approx. USD13.00), with less than 10% of purchases being over VND2,000,000 (approx. USD87.00). You have to think that Shopee, Tiki and others will hope that these figures are very different five years from now.

Vietnam online shopping platforms have a low net promoter score

In this period of early success for ecommerce in Vietnam, it seems customers are responding to convenience and pricing more than customer service. Feedback from online shoppers shows that customer service is the one area where ecommerce providers can make significant improvements, with this perhaps something for the retailers to focus on to increase market share in what is already a very competitive arena. As with other online services, customer satisfaction is of course ultimately the key to success and should not be ignored for the sake of revenue.

With around 30% of shoppers rating their preferred channel or marketplace highly (i.e., would use again and/or recommend to others), this leaves a very large chunk of business potentially lost. Online shopping platforms have an average net promotor score of only 19 in Vietnam, this compares to 45 in the US. The dynamics and technology of online shopping in Vietnam may be hugely different from bricks and mortar shopping, but customer service and in return, loyalty is not.

This all points to no single marketplace having cracked it just yet. With companies continuing to truly understand what is still a very new market, diverse strengths and weaknesses are apparent so it will be interesting to see whether the likes of Lazada, Tiki et al continue to play to their strengths or will look to improve in weaker areas in order to build market share.

Price comparisons are normal for online shopping in Vietnam

With social media and instant messaging acting as broadcasters, brand awareness of online shopping channels is extremely high, with many companies enjoying an awareness factor of around 80% amongst all online shoppers. Of course, awareness of a brand doesn’t necessarily translate into clicks and purchases. With the help of price comparison tools, plenty of consumers are jumping around sites and apps in search of deals and promotions.

Savvy Vietnamese consumers will put their purses and wallets ahead of brand loyalty; they understand the importance of comparing prices, looking for bargains and checking deals and promotions. For the consumer, online shopping means choice perhaps above all else. Give consumers choice though and they will want to know that they’re getting the best prices, the best value and the best deals. With so much information available at the touch of a screen or click of a mouse, it’s quick and easy to compare prices between products as well as brands. Online shopping allows for much easier ‘window shopping’, browsing and comparison than the traditional bricks and mortar shopping experience. With no pushy sales assistant trying to persuade the buyer, consumers have full control of their spending decisions.

Male shoppers seem to be making more considered online purchases, using price comparisons more than their female counterparts who, it would seem, tend to favour more impulsive, spur-of-the-moment shopping. A case of if they see it, they like it, they buy it.

Younger online shoppers also appear to be more compulsive, with under 25s using price comparisons less than other age groups. Are they too busy or too lazy to take time to check for the best deals? Or could it be that they’re just more in-tune with the best onlien shopping platforms and sources for deals so have less need to hunt around to save money?

The signs are that where there is a wide product selection, backed up with strong search and comparison functionality, then shoppers are happy to stay with one marketplace and not hop around looking for better prices. It’s a mantra that online marketplaces will want to borrow from the high street: once you have a customer ‘in-store’ you don’t want them to leave without making a purchase.

Online shopping payments slowly shifting in Vietnam

Another area of ecommerce where we can expect to see fundamental changes in the near future is with regards to payments. Currently, retail transactions in Vietnam are very much cash based and the vast majority of online shopping orders are fulfilled by cash at the point of delivery. However, with advances in technology we are seeing new payment methods gain in popularity. Electronic payment facilities, such as online bank transfers and e-wallets, are becoming more common and whilst they only account for a small proportion of online purchases at the moment, we see this sector increasing sharply as consumers look for increased convenience and simplicity.

Across the age groups, the range and usage of payment methods are fairly consistent. Cash on delivery is slightly more common with young shoppers in the 18-24 age bracket, as well as older shoppers aged 45-55. For the former this can perhaps be put down to young adults having less access to banking facilities, while the older shoppers are maybe more likely to hold on to more traditional ways.

When we look at the new payment methods, we can see a clear shift in the 35-44 age group who appear to be the early-adopters of the new fintech with a higher usage of bank cards, online transfers and e-wallets. The young professionals between the ages of 25-34 are also following this trend, which would be in-line with this demographic having more access to banking facilities in recent years.

Are we seeing the buyer-seller retail relationship evolve before our eyes? Most definitely. An eager audience with increasing amounts of cash to spend; technology creating new opportunities on an almost daily basis; and a burgeoning Vietnamese economy that shows no signs of slowing up, all point to online shopping surpassing street and mall shopping as the consumers’ preferred choice in Vietnam.

The only question that remains is how will Vietnam’s retailers adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. Will there be more focus on customer loyalty and delivering higher levels of service to retain the customer? Will the march of technology be the dominating factor, simplifying processes to make online shopping an even more convenient and attractive proposition? Whatever the answers, you can be sure that the ecommerce landscape in Vietnam is going to look very different very soon.

Purchase your Vietnam online shopping report here

View all articles here >>

The rise of Indonesian films: Opportunities and challenges

Dec 20, 2024

The holiday season is here, and for many Indonesians, watching films is the top choice for quality

Indonesia Consumer Trends 2024

Dec 07, 2024

As Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia is poised for remarkable transformation in

Vietnam retail banking 2024

Dec 02, 2024

Vietnam’s retail banking sector is in a transformative phase, with digital adoption accelerating

Minh Thu - Consumer Market Insights Manager

Working with Cimigo has been incredibly rewarding. Their exceptional service and unwavering commitment to excellence have been truly impressive. Together, we've successfully completed projects ranging from fabric care like detergents and fabric softener to home essentials like floor cleaner and dishwashing liquid in both urban and rural settings, showcasing Cimigo's versatility and dedication to reaching diverse markets. Thanks to Cimigo's dedication and expertise, we secured a major project with our client last year. I'm grateful for our partnership and excited for future collaborations.

Travis Mitchell - Executive Director

Cimigo has been an excellent partner for AmCham. They provided insightful feedback during the planning phase of our project and offered suggestions to ensure that we met our goals. Their analysis was comprehensive, thoughtful, and accurate, and I appreciated their customer service skills – I always felt that Cimigo had our best interests at heart. I’m very much looking forward to working with Cimigo again in the near future!

Malcolm Farmer - Managing Director

I have never seen or had support for our business like we have received from Cimigo Vietnam. The depth & understanding of our business shows how well you have studied both Jardines Distribution Inc. and Koppers Performance Chemicals. We, (JDI & KPC), really appreciate the efforts the whole Cimigo team have put into your research. The help to connect potential distributors for both our Industrial and retail products are absolutely on point. I will have no hesitation in recommending Cimigo Vietnam to any company wanting to venture into the Vietnam market.

Hy Vu - Head of Research Department

Cimigo is one of the top research companies in Vietnam that provides very good services and actionable insights. We have the pleasure of working with Cimigo. With extensive knowledge of Vietnamese consumers, Cimigo keeps bringing value to our company. We look forward to working with them in the future.

Joe Nelson - New Zealand Consulate General

The research provided by Cimigo provided our clients with very specific insights into consumer behaviour in Viet Nam. What I liked was the way Cimigo interpreted these insights to develop a clear call to action for our clients, which they are responding to with confidence.

Steve Kretschmer - Executive Director

Cimigo conducted a large, nationally representative demand forecasting study in Vietnam for us, including a discreet choice component, to assess demand for potential new male contraceptives in development to support funding decisions by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The research was additionally complex by linking interviews with men and separate interviews with their female partners. The Cimigo team was were professional, knowledgeable and adaptive through the process of understanding our needs and collaborating to find solutions that would work, resulting in a very successful study.

York Spencer - Global Marketing Director

I've had the pleasure to work with Richard and Cimigo over many years and across multiple markets. Cimigo was a key partner in our business decision making process including market entry strategy, brand positioning development, shopper insights, brand equity tracking, and consumer need state segmentation development. The Cimigo team are local market experts who understand consumer culture like no other. I would highly recommend them.

Mai Trang - Brand Manager of Romano

Cimigo is the research agency that I appreciate for their expertise and customer service. Cimigo understand well the business context for each of project hence they can design the research to best fit with the objectives. The optimization on methodologies, sample size and questionnaire bring the value to the projects I have worked with them. Cimigo can go beyond data and give me valuable insights for each of research projects based on their knowledge and experience with the industry. All of these support me well to navigate the brand strategy in short term and long term.

Hanh Dang - Product Marketing Manager

We partnered with Cimigo on assessing TET campaign launch focusing on improving booking through our platform. Cimigo, provided its customized campaign evaluation technique based on Cimigo Online Communities that fully meets our requirement in terms of type of respondents and expected timelines. The report provided insightful findings with benchmarks to identify the next course of action for launching the campaign. We will recommend Cimigo team and its Online communities for its quality reporting and scale of coverage.

Max Lee - Project Manager

Cido have worked with Cimigo in Vietnam for more than 10 years. All our projects, both qualitative and quantitative, have been delivered in a timely manner with a high standard of quality throughout. Cimigo’s client service team has provided great support over the years which has ensured smooth project execution and helped us to deliver work on time and exceed our client’s expectations.

Chris Elkin - Founder

I have partnered with Cimigo over the past 15 years. Most recently Cimigo engaged us to collaborate on an unusually tough new product development project, which was akin to selling ice to Eskimos. Cimigo bought alive the consumer, her shopping journey, her cooking rituals and potential brand promises. Cimigo inspired our creative team to build alternate brand propositions and accompanying package designs. Cimigo then went back to consumers to evaluate, iterate and optimise these in focus groups. The Doodle team were able to observe this process and subtly adjust the expression of the brand between focus groups. The result of this great collaboration was a winning brand proposition and packaging design that hit consumer needs head on whilst appealing to their hearts.

Ronald Reagan - Deputy Group Head After Sales & CS Operation

We have worked together with Cimigo many times. The findings from Cimigo are factual, accurate & reliable. They deliver value from the voice of our customer so we can easily determine the next step. Working with Cimigo feels like not only building a partnership but a sense of family. Very amazing to work with Cimigo, they always go beyond our expectations.

Chad Ovel - Partner

Cimigo digs deep to understand the key issues we need to address. Then, they quickly customize a highly suitable research approach to provide us the insights we need to achieve our breakthrough business targets. From tough questions to aha answers in just a few easy conversations!

Private English Language Schools - Chief Executive Officer

Our relationship with Cimigo goes back many years. We engaged Cimigo to provide an independent view on what our customers and potential customers think of our company. The insights from Cimigo were very helpful for us to better understand the Vietnam market and also in developing our brand manifesto.

Rick Reid - Creative Director

As a creative director I have used the services of Cimigo for the past 15 years when developing communications, so I know their style, innovations and resources well. Most recently we tested copy for print, out of home and digital communications to put an Australian colloquialism into a Vietnamese context. A job and budget so small I felt it was highly likely to fall through the cracks. I was astounded at their incredible response. From their advice and style of how we should present the stimulus material, to their cross-reference manoeuvres used in the testing. Their over-delivering response, was to an embarrassing level. We walked away with a clear winner and could present back to our client with confidence and clarity. Cimigo made us look great. Plus they even threw in a few extra insights on the awareness and perception of the product in Vietnam.

Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon - Chief Executive Officer

Cimigo have built and managed both our employee and customer experience programme since 2012. We have a complex suite of services with in-patient, out-patient, surgical, diagnostic, consultative and facilities to account for, all amongst patients who are naturally sensitive regarding their privacy and experience. Yet Cimigo have designed a system to measure customer experience across multiple languages and cultures and direct us in improving this experience. Our net promoter score (NPS) has grown as a direct result of changes implemented based on this direction and continuously listening to patient feedback. The NPS growth correlates directly to new patient numbers and improved profitability, as happier customers drives our business growth.

Matt Thwaites - Commercial Director

Cimigo designed a customer experience programme for Coats that reached into Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean customers across various levels of seniority. Cimigo instilled the importance of the voice of the customer within our executive committee. This led to fundamental changes in our structure, services and speed to market. Significant investments were made behind these improvement programmes, for example in reducing delivery times and in managing specialised custom orders, which in turn have led to improved revenue streams and higher margin sales.

Aashish Kapoor - Head of Marketing

Cimigo - The best “Glocal” market research firm in Vietnam with whom we have developed a great partnership since many years. While the quality of research and findings are of top standard, the added advantage being the local insights that Richard and his team are able to provide in helping us make important decisions.

Kelly Vo - Founder & Host

I respect Cimigo not only because of their dedication, meticulousness, and high-quality services but also how much they care about the local community here. I proposed the idea of doing a survey with the digital young generation on the topic of social impact and leadership. I wanted to identify, shape, and develop our content so that could really speak to the heart of the problems and empower young Vietnamese to take action on social impact in Vietnam. The Cimigo team agreed pro-bono to help without hesitation. The research findings are truly helpful in providing us a deeper understanding of our targeted audiences, what they need and are concerned about in life. The results show us how we can help them to achieve their goals and dreams. It is no longer a shot in the dark!

Hamish Glendinning - Business Lead

Cimigo not only delivered an exceptional piece of qualitative research for us, but provided hugely valuable direction when it came to product development and market positioning which we have since implemented. We can’t wait to work with the team again.

Thuy Le - Consumer Insight Manager

Pharmacity started a Brand Health Check with Cimigo in 2020 and we were immediately impressed with their great consultancy and supportive spirit. The study had interesting analysis and insights which helped us efficiently shape the marketing plan and direction moving forward. We are now working with Cimigo on a tracking basis to continuously monitor and foster our brand performance.

Richard Willis - Director

When we were looking to develop one of the worlds the leading economic indicator in Vietnam, the Purchasing Managers’ Index™ (PMI®) Cimigo showed an immediate understanding of our needs and showed their understanding of the Vietnamese market. IHS Markit has now been working with Cimigo since 2013. Every month Cimigo continues to provide high quality data, a representative panel, on time data and great customer service. We look forward to many more years of working together.

Ha Dinh - Project Lead

I have worked with CIMIGO on educational research for over 4 months. This is extremely impressive to me by the way CIMIGO approaches, cooperating and supporting me during the research launched. Specifically, the design for both qualitative and quantitative research are practical and logical with accurate questionnaires and appropriate interviews methodology for different respondents. Moreover, the outcomes of this research helps us to recognize our opportunities in the current English Language Training Market and understand profoundly our customer needs, behaviours and expectations when sending their children to us.

Louise Knox - Consumer Technical Insights

Just to say a huge thank you for all of the film footage. We are absolutely delighted with it all. The Vox Pops are really interesting and have turned out very well – those ladies were great at talking spontaneously. Cimigo did a great job. Thank you for your patience and perseverance with getting this off the ground.

Aimee Shear - Senior Research Executive

We partnered up with the Cimigo team on what was a particularly challenging project – we were faced with numerous timeline delays and logistical concerns – yet Cimigo were incredibly accommodating through their patience, flexibility and commitment. Not only were Cimigo supportive during the set up of our project, but we were really impressed by the outputs delivered – Cimigo were insightful, rich and very comprehensive. Cimigo were brilliant partners to work with and we look forward to working with them again.

Dennis Kurnia - Head of Consumer Insights

Over the last 5 years I have worked with Cimigo on a wide array of projects, ranging from market segmentation to product testing. At all times, I found Cimigo to be swift in response and providing high quality insights and business recommendations applicable to our business. Furthermore, I am satisfied with Cimigo fieldwork quality despite the crunched timeline that we had in some projects. Overall, I highly recommend Cimigo for their professionalism.

Tania Desela - Senior Product Manager

It was a pleasure working with Cimigo. Their expertise in consumer and market research was a significant benefit as they assisted our organization in understanding our market position in more detail and validating our hypothesis in go-to-market strategy. We were more than happy with the findings and would definitely recommend Cimigo.

Thu Phung - CTI Manager

Cimigo is not the type of agency that "fill in the template", but it's customized as per the needs and expectations of Client. Cimigo makes research interesting by applying new approaches to address the business issue, for example, it's known by default that product test is CLT, but at Cimigo, we did group debate for deeper understandings and insights and that resulted as a winning product which is selling well in the market. Last but not least, Cimigo makes me understand that research is a journey, not just a project."

Linda Yeoh - CMI Manager

We have worked with Cimigo over 2 projects in Vietnam. Cimigo has proven to be reliable being on top of the projects, managing different stakeholders and business objectives. They are flexible in terms of ways of working and are able to cope with last minute changes. The research findings (Quant + Qual) have helped us understand Vietnamese in a deeper level, allowing us to make clear decisions to be successful in the market. Thank you Cimigo team for supporting us.

Team

Cimigo’s market research team in Vietnam and Indonesia love to help you make better choices.

Solutions

Cimigo provides market research solutions in Vietnam and Indonesia that will help you make better choices.

Trends

Cimigo provides a range of consumer marketing trends and market research on market sectors and consumer segments in Vietnam and Indonesia.

Reports

Cimigo provides a range of free market research reports on market sectors and consumer segments in Vietnam and Indonesia.