Around 44.8 million people, or nearly 50% of Vietnam's population, shopped online last year, according to the latest e-commerce report conducted by the Vietnam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Source: Vietnam’s E-commerce White Book 2020. Chart: Nhat Minh

According to Vietnam’s E-commerce White Book 2020, the number of online shoppers grew about 1.12% year-on-year. Average spending for online shopping was US$225 per person, 40.6% higher than 2015 and 11.3% than 2018.

Vietnam’s retail e-commerce revenue increased by 25% to US$10.08 billion, accounting for 4.9% of total retail sales of goods and services in 2019.

iDEA also pointed out that 77% of Internet users, mostly between 18 and 25 years old, shopped online at least once in 2019, most of whom accessed online shops through mobile devices.  

The most notable trend highlighted in the white paper was Vietnamese consumers’ shift from traditional online shopping to e-commerce mobile applications.

Source: Vietnam’s E-commerce White Book 2020. Chart: Nhat Minh

Online sales platforms are forums and social media networks, which reported a 57% year-on-year rise in sales in 2019 compared to 36% in 2018, despite the growing number of reports related to scams and phishing.

Cash remained the most preferred payment method for 86% of consumers, followed by domestic ATM cards (39%), credit cards (17%), and e-wallets (18%). The white paper attributes the decline in non-cash payment to skepticism over product quality, fear of data breaches, and subpar customer service.

Source: Vietnam’s E-commerce White Book 2020. Chart: Nhat Minh

Vietnam has set a target that the e-commerce industry would grow by 25% per year to US$35 billion with more than half of the population shopping online by the end of 2025. Cash payments in e-commerce would account for 50% and the average spending for online shopping would be about US$600 per person a year.