Vietnam's e-commerce market to reach $17.3b in 2023

Total online spending doubled to $9.4b in 2019 from $3.9b in 2015.

Vietnam’s e-commerce market is projected to hit $17.3b (VND399.5t) in 2023 at a CAGR of 16.3% from $9.4b (VND218.3t) in 2019, according to a GlobalData report.

The market doubled over the past five years with total online spending reaching $9.4b (VND218.3t) in 2019 from $3.9b (VND90.1t) in 2015, owing to a large young population and rising Internet and smartphone penetration.

Whilst cash remains the king in the country, accounting for 35.6% of e-commerce purchases in 2019, alternative payment methods like MoMo and PayPal are gaining ground with a 15.5% market share.

Strong growth has prompted global companies to invest in Vietnamese e-commerce firms. In 2018, Tiki received $5.3m (VND122b) and $44.0m (VND1.02t) funding from tech firm VNG and Chinese investor JD.com, respectively. In the same year, online retailer Sendo secured $51m (VND1.18t) from Japanese financial services firm SBI Group and other investors, with an additional $2b (VND46.36t) from Alibaba and Lazada.