VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese e-commerce market is dominated by ChoDienTu.vn, a Vietnamese e-commerce product, which holds 29 percent of market share. However, the situation may change in the immediate future.

In 2006, when ChoDienTu.vn completed the 300th transaction, Nguyen Hoa Binh, the founder the president of PeaceSoft, the owner of ChoDienTu.vn, said in the Financial Times in an interview that he hoped e-Bay, the giant, would knock at his company’s doors one day.

HIs words turned into reality in early 2011 when e-Bay agreed to buy 20 percent of the stakes of ChoDienTu.vn.

Experts believe that ChoDienTu.vn has been successful because its owners understand the importance of the online payment solutions.

ChoDienTu.vn joined hands with Techcombank in 2006, Dong A Bank in 2007, and OnePay and other international institutions in 2008 to insure all the transactions made by customers on the website.

In 2011, ChoDienTu.vn launched NganLuong.vn, an online payment tool developed by itself. NganLuong is now the leading online payment portal in Vietnam with 27 percent of the market share.

In 2013, PeaceSoft sold 50 percent of the capital in NganLuong.vn to a Malaysian partner, MOL Access Portal.

However, the map of the e-commerce market may have to be drawn again, once other players have jumped on the bandwagon.

Binh of PeaceSoft admitted that Lazada, with such huge investment capital, would be a formidable rival for any domestic rival.

However, Binh said PeaceSoft has a “powerful eco-system” which can help it provide high quality services and attract customers.

The powerful system Binh mentioned includes ChoDienTu.vn and eBay.vn,  the two retail websites, NganLuong.vn, an online payment tool, and ShipChung.vn, an online delivery services, and AdNet.vn, and an ad network that helps retailers promote sales.

Small players also strive for piece of the cake

While Lazada and ChoDienTu.vn are busy fighting for the No 1 position, they have to deal with smaller rivals as well.

The rivals include VatGia.com, which is now in third position in the market with 16 percent of the market share, and is described as an “unpleasant player”.

A report said that the website attracted 50 percent of the Vietnamese unique visitors in 2013. It now accommodates 24,000 shops, which generate VND4 trillion worth of transactions every year.

Many owners of Groupon websites have also seen great opportunities in the market if they change their business strategies.

Four years ago was the time which witnessed the mushrooming of a series of groupon websites in Vietnam, including NhomMua, CungMua, MuaChung and HotDeal, which followed the US Groupon’s business model.

But most of the groupon websites of this kind follow a new model – daily deal – with no limitation on time and number of buyers.

HotDeal said it receives 10,000 orders a day on average. It has completed a plan to expand the storehouse area by three times for new expansion.

Tiki.vn is considered a “phenomenon” in the e-commerce market. Established as a book trading website in 2010, Tiki.vn now displays 55,000 products in nine different business fields, and is called Vietnam’s Amazon.com.

NCDT