Half of Vietnamese population shops online

Dang Anh Dung, deputy CEO of Lazada Vietnam, told the forum on e-commerce on Tuesday that a report by Google and Temaske & Bain said around 57 million Vietnamese made online purchases last year, most of them in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang City.

The report also asserted that Vietnam’s young population is playing an important role in the digital economy.

Around 43% of Lazada shoppers are Gen-Zers born in 1997 or later, said the deputy CEO of the digital shopping channel that has been called "The Amazon of Southeast Asia."

According to Dung, this demographic in Vietnam accesses the app every day.

On average, each individual in this young Vietnamese population bracket buys products from seven different categories, Dung told the conference. "Young people are becoming more particular with their products. They seek values and will change brands if they receive low-quality items."

Tran Van Trong, general secretary of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), said Vietnam is seeing a boom in e-commerce as the number of online shopper surges with improving shopping skills and increasing purchase value.

The rise in demand has also prompted supply surges, he said. "Millions of people are now online sellers, and the majority of them do not even own a brick-and-mortar store."

Businesses are evolving fast to adapt to new ways of selling products, Tand said, adding that many retail firms are responding to the changing times by issuing new policies on online shopping.

The government has also tightened e-commerce tax collection and is punishing those who sell counterfeit products, he pointed out.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade recently reported that Vietnam’s e-commerce gross merchandise value is growing by 16-30% a year and could reach $20.5 billion this year.

The Google report said that Vietnam’s digital economy could reach a total value of $30 billion this year, and $45 billion by 2025.