VietNamNet Bridge - Many “big guys” have joined the e-commerce forwarding market but analysts believe that the fast-growing market is still open for newcomers.

VNPost and Viettel Post, the major forwarders, have jumped into the e-commerce forwarding market, competing with “rookies” in the field such as giaohangnhanh.vn and Sendo.

In fact, the companies have been providing services in the e-commerce sector for many years. However, analysts noted that their operation models are not suitable to online distributors, and thus they still cannot attract distributors and sellers.

Meanwhile, being large businesses, they are less competitive than smaller ones which have lower operation costs and deliver goods faster.

However, the “big guys” in the freight & forwarding field have reorganized their structure in order to get involved more deeply in the e-commerce market which is getting more and more attractive.

VNPost, for example, has set up a business division in charge of dealing with e-commerce businesses.

While post companies target clients who are online sale websites and e-commerce trading floors, Seaborne, the exclusive agent of FedEx Vietnam, only provides COD (cash on delivery) service to well-known websites such as Sendo, Zalora and Deca.

Sendo.vn’s CEO Tran Hai Linh said since the very beginning in 2012, FPT, the owner of Sendo.vn, decided to focus on solving the questions on forwarding and payment.

Sendo.vn is the first e-commerce trading floor in Vietnam where 100 percent of transactions are secured by the payment and transport systems operated by Sendo.vn.

Clients of Sendo.vn feel secure when they know that their money will be transferred to the sellers after they confirm they have received goods with standards committed by the sellers. Meanwhile, sellers can be sure that they can collect money from buyers after they deliver goods.

The outstanding characteristic of the Vietnamese e-commerce market is that cash is the payment method in 90 percent of transactions. Therefore, businesses like Sendo.vn can bridge sellers and buyers and help boost sales.

Alexandre Dardy, CEO of Lazada Vietnam, noted that forwarding services play a very important role in e-commerce development, therefore, Lazada Vietnam paid special attention to developing logistics technology since its early days in Vietnam. 

He said the company has made heavy investments to develop the team of deliverers, called LEX (LazadaExpress).

Lazada also uses services provided by third parties, such as VNPost, Viettel and giaohangnhanh.vn. As the number of orders is on a sharp rise, Lazada decided to set up a warehouse in Hanoi last year and has cooperated with FPT, a technology group, to improve delivery services.

A report showed that annual logistics costs account for 25 percent of GDP, higher than 7-18 percent in the US and Thailand.  

DNSG