Leading e-commerce categories in Vietnam 2021

As surveyed in 2021, clothing, footwear, and cosmetic products were the most popular online product categories according to online shoppers in Vietnam. Home appliances ranked second, with 64 percent of respondents having purchased these items online.

Online shopping on the rise in Vietnam

In 2021, around seven percent of total retail sales in Vietnam came from e-commerce, equaling over 13.7 billion U.S. dollars. The growth of this sector has been recorded year on year during the last decade in the country. In the same year, over half of the Vietnamese population reported having purchased consumer goods online. Not only are there more people buying products online, but the average amount spent per consumer on e-commerce channels has also been increasing exponentially in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s internet economy

Vietnam had the third largest internet economy in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia and Thailand, with a total market value of 21 billion U.S. dollars. While e-commerce accounted for the lion’s share, other segments within the internet economy in the country had been growing fast in recent years. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has made online entertainment the new normal for people across different age groups, contributing to the substantial increase in online media market value in Vietnam. Furthermore, since the pandemic, food delivery, ride-hailing, and online travel have benefited from consumer shifts toward online products and services.