Fashion reigns as Vietnam's online shopping queen

With e-commerce booming in Vietnam, shopaholics have been switching from walking from store to store to just sitting back and relaxing with their computers and phones to choose their favorite fashion items.

Despite spending almost ten hours per day at work, Ha, an office worker in Binh Thanh District, HCMC, can still find the time to buy herself new clothes every month.

Her computer is bombarded by advertisements for new fashion items that stream from the social media channel she uses to the news sites she usually follows since she searched online for a new dress.

“I don't have much free time to stop by every store to find the clothes I want, but I can easily do it online. Of course there are risks buying clothes online, but if I order products from shop and receive exactly what I expected, then I go back to that shop,” she said.

The trend has become so popular that many Vietnamese women say they spend time almost every night watching online retailers livestreaming their products on Facebook.

A survey released in October last year by Vietnamese market research firm Q&Me showed fashion standing on top of all products purchased online in Vietnam, followed by IT products, cosmetics, food and beverages, and books and stationary.

Out of a pool of 966 respondents aged between 18 and 39, 73 percent said they went online to buy fashion products, the survey found.

Tapping into this trend in Vietnam, online shopping platform Lazada has launched a partnership with Au Chau Fashion and Cosmetic Co. Ltd (ACFC), a distributor of world-leading brands such as Calvin Klein Jeans, Levi’s, Dune and Diesel.

Lazada said the move expresses its ambition to boost the development of its clothing and cosmetics sector, and its target to become the leader in Vietnam’s e-commerce market by 2020.

“Last year, Lazada's revenue from fashion products doubled, and the number of fashion providers registering on its platform rose 4.5 times,” said Nguyen Thanh Thuy, director of brand marketing solutions at Lazada Vietnam.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market grew by 25 percent last year and is expected to maintain its growth in the next three years, according to the Vietnam E-Commerce Association.

Revenue from online retail is forecast to hit $10 billion by 2020, accounting for 5 percent of the country’s retail market, it said.

The thriving market has attracted global giants.

American e-commerce giant Amazon month entered the Vietnamese market last month, just four months after Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba officially entered Vietnam by investing in Lazada.

Earlier this year, China's second biggest online e-commerce firm JD.com Inc announced plans to invest in Tiki, a Vietnam-based online retailer that it intends to help with fulfillment, logistics and more. JD.com co-led the financing with Vietnamese entertainment and social media firm VNG Corp.