Vietnam’s e-commerce sees few benefits during Covid-19 crisis

While Amazon has had to recruit 100,000 more workers to satisfy orders, at Vietnam’s marketplaces, purchases remain weak except for face masks and hand sanitizers.

When Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam, e-commerce was expected to prosper.

However, Tran Tuan Anh, managing director of Shopee Vietnam, said he cannot see relations between the coronavirus outbreak and an increase in online shopping power.

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The statistics of SimilarWeb also showed that the number of visits to the four largest marketplaces, Shopee, Tiki, Lazada and Sendo, in the first two months of the year, decreased by 14 percent compared with the same period last year.

iPrice’s experts explained that this was the initial impact caused by Covid-19.

According to iPrice, besides the products which have direct relations to tourism (travel voucher, suitcase and swimwear), fashion products have seen adverse effects. The search for many products decreased by 30-50 percent compared with early January and the demand has not recovered. Electronics and cosmetics did not see growth.

According to iPrice, besides the products which have direct relations to tourism (travel voucher, suitcase and swimwear), fashion products have seen adverse effects. The search for many products decreased by 30-50 percent compared with early January and the demand has not recovered. Electronics and cosmetics did not see growth.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Dung, deputy chair of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom), people are doing more online shopping but they mostly buy essential goods, not all products.

In general, the purchasing power of the economy is decreasing as people tighten purse strings.

Tiki on March 17 said the products in highest demand included face masks, wet tissues and air filters. The marketplace sometimes receive 4,000-5,000 orders for these products each minute. It has had a 15 percent growth rate in comparison with the two last months of 2019.

The demand for essential goods and medical products increased at Tiki as well as the whole e-commerce market. The orders for face masks have increased by 600 times and hand sanitizersby 100 times.

Nguyen Tran Bich Ngoc, founder and CEO of EComEasy (ECE), which provides services to sellers in marketplaces, said during Covid-19, at least two people in one family access the
internet to read news about nCoV and seek to buy face masks. Marketplaces need to strengthen marketing to attract new customers.

Shopee, Tiki and Lazada announced they will control the quality of products, especially medical products.

Analysts noted that the slower business has prompted retailers to make investment in online sale channels.

Some e-commerce marketplaces are applying policies to support sellers. Tiki, for example, has adjusted commissions since early March.

Kim Chi