South Korean retail giant Lotte targets 20 percent of Vietnam’s e-commerce market

By Bui Hong Nhung October 25, 2016 | 12:10 am PT

Lotte Mart is booming with 12 supermarkets in Vietnam. Photo by Moveek.

It's a lucrative market, with sales hitting $4 billion last year.

Lotte Group will launch its online shopping website in Vietnam this Friday, taking on an e-commerce market worth $4 million.

The new website is expected to offer all items available at Lotte's physical stores, with a focus on clothes and cosmetics.

Seo Tae Ho, head of Lotte E-commerce, said that the site was designed to help Lotte become a dominant player in Vietnam’s e-commerce market with a market share of 20 percent. To achieve that goal, it is likely that the company will pursue an agressive price strategy.

Some other foreign retailers have stepped into Vietnam’s e-commerce market recently.

Thailand’s leading retailer Central Group bought fashion firm Zalora Vietnam from Germany’s Rocket Internet for $10 million in April this year.

In the same month, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba invested $1 billion for a major stake in Lazada.

Data from the trade ministry showed that e-commerce sales reached $4 billion in Vietnam last year, up 37 percent from 2014. The figure is forecast to hit $10 million in 2020, equivalent to 5 percent of the country’s retail sales.

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