According to Lazada Express, one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, each Vietnamese shopper has spent US$70.18 per year on average on buying goods online, up US$15.18 from 2016. The goods range from books, garments and accessories, to electronics, food and personal care products, among others.

Online shoppers expect faster delivery

Deloitte Vietnam’s surveys show that 63 percent of young consumers in the country are interested in receiving goods within one day, and half of them are willing to pay more for faster delivery.

A survey of more than 350 consumers in Vietnam by Q&Me shows that a good logistics service can determine whether consumers buy from a certain firm or its competitor if the prices are reasonable and the quality is high.

Vietnam, however, does not have a law regulating e-commerce logistics services. Sellers in Vietnam usually cannot issue an invoice for the goods they sell until the delivery reaches the buyers and they pay for the goods. Inadequate infrastructure and technology and traditional ways of delivery – mostly by motorbikes, often without a container – limit the efficiency of deliveries.

Tran Duc Nghia, Director of the Delta International Co., Ltd. proposed the establishment of a new state management agency for e-commerce logistics and legalization of data sharing with state management agencies. The state should also consider allowing changing industrial land use purposes in urban areas so logistics enterprises can establish logistics centers.