This figure is also double the average monthly supermarket visit frequency among Vietnamese, reported NielsenIQ Vietnam.
A survey released at the event on June 28 revealed that on average, each person uses 3.2 platforms to shop online.
Low prices for online products are not the biggest driver for consumers; the two biggest reasons are stocking up for family reasons (25%) and immediate need (21%).
Previously, Vietnamese mainly used e-commerce to buy non-essential goods such as electronics, fashion items and home appliances, but nowadays they are increasingly buying daily necessities online.
Customers purchase an average of 6.5 different products, with the top three categories being food, beverages, and cosmetics, followed by fashion, sports, home care, and technology.
“Online shopping is becoming a common activity and essential items are growing in popularity,” said Le Hoang Long, head of retail at NielsenIQ Vietnam.
Earlier, e-commerce data firm Metric's first-quarter report showed Vietnamese spending on online shopping far exceeded the platforms' forecasts. Total retail revenue for the top five e-commerce platforms — Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo and TikTok Shop — reached VND71.2 trillion (US$2.79 billion), up 78.7 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
E-commerce continues to maintain a faster growth rate than the general retail market. According to the country's Statistics General Office, total retail sales and consumer service revenues increased 5.7% in the first half of this year excluding price increases, slowing from the 8.8% increase in the same period last year.
Hung Huynh, director of TikTok for Business SMB Vietnam, noted that the online commerce market is still very open and has great potential, but medium, small and micro enterprises are not fully utilizing it.
“The main reasons are these companies' limitations in terms of human resources, tools and digital transformation,” he said.
In the second half of 2024, TikTok Shop Vietnam plans to support 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises with a total budget of $1 million. Instead of working directly with businesses, it will support them through local governments and industry associations, which will send them a list of businesses in need of support. Around 20 provinces and cities and more than 10 industry associations have submitted the list.
“We plan to hold a livestream festival in one province every week,” said Nguyen Lam Thanh, head of TikTok Vietnam.
