HÀ NỘI — After a decade of rapid expansion fuelled by subsidies and deep discounts, Việt Nam’s e-commerce market is entering a more disciplined era, as platforms raise fees and regulators tighten oversight.

Following a decade of strong expansion in users, products and transaction volumes, major platforms are gradually retreating from the cash-burning strategy previously used to compete for market share. Instead, they are shifting towards profitability, operational efficiency and long-term sustainability, industry experts say.

The shift became more evident in 2025, when platforms began tightening operating rules for sellers while redesigning incentives for buyers. Free-shipping programmes and vouchers, once deployed aggressively to drive short-term sales, have increasingly been bundled into fixed or paid schemes, transferring a larger share of costs to merchants.

“The biggest change is not in technology or customer behaviour, but fees,” said Trần Lâm, an e-commerce expert and founder of local brands Julyhouse and Macaland.

“The fees are not raised in one move, but gradually and continuously. Each increase may seem small, but together they create significant pressure on sellers.”

Sellers are also facing new charges such as infrastructure fees and costs linked to returns, while faster implementation timelines have given them little time to adjust. As a result, smaller sellers with thin margins are struggling to remain competitive, according to Lâm.

At the same time, tighter tax enforcement and stricter product quality controls on e-commerce platforms are adding further pressure, with non-compliant players increasingly being filtered out as the market is reshaped into a more competitive and transparent landscape.

Statistics from the Department of Taxation showed tax collections from e-commerce surged 80 per cent year on year to VNĐ208.8 trillion in 2025, with the agency saying it would continue to strengthen tax collection from online business activities.

Regulators have also intensified efforts to clean up the online marketplace by cracking down on substandard goods and illegal sellers.

According to the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), more than 13,700 violating shops were removed from e-commerce platforms in 2025 for selling counterfeit, banned or untraceable products.

A recent report by market data research platform Metric.vn on the e-commerce market in 2025 showed there were 601,800 shops active on the four major platforms, including Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki, at the end of 2025, down 7.4 per cent year on year, or nearly 48,000 stores.

Despite the decline in store numbers, the four largest e-commerce platforms generated total sales revenues of VNĐ429 trillion (US$16.5 billion) in 2025, up nearly 34.8 per cent from 2024, reflecting a trend in which weaker sellers were filtered out, according to Metric.

Selective growth

 

Metric’s analysts say Việt Nam’s e-commerce market is entering a more mature phase, with growth shifting from user expansion to quality.

The pace of new user growth has slowed sharply compared with the 2018–21 period, but this does not signal a downturn. Instead, it marks the start of a new phase focused on value, with increases in key indicators such as the average unit price per monthly sold item, conversion rates and the share of revenue generated by official stores.

Vietnamese consumers are no longer simply searching for the cheapest products but are increasingly prioritising quality, origin and shopping experience, Metric analysts say, citing statistics showing the share of revenue from official stores rose from 25 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 to nearly 32 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, although mall shops accounted for just 2.8 per cent of total stores on major e-commerce platforms.

Shopee and TikTok Shop recorded mall revenue shares of 33.95 per cent and 31.52 per cent, respectively, while LazMall contributed 59.7 per cent of Lazada’s revenue.

This reflects a deeper shift in Vietnamese consumers’ shopping behaviour, with greater awareness and a willingness to pay for products with clear origin and quality, according to Metric.

The Law on E-Commerce, which will come into effect from July 1, 2026, will reshape Việt Nam’s e-commerce market towards transparency and healthy development.

According to Lê Thị Hà, from the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the MIT, the law is a significant step in strengthening the legal framework for online trade to combat trade fraud and better protect consumer rights.

One of the most notable provisions is the mandatory identification of sellers operating on e-commerce platforms, a measure seen as a key solution for creating a transparent, safe and sustainable e-commerce environment in Việt Nam.

Nguyễn Đăng Sinh, president of the Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Trademark Protection, said the requirement for sellers and livestreamers to verify their identities would be a powerful tool for tackling counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements.

This regulation is not intended to hinder online trade but to safeguard digital trust, protect consumers and support sustainable e-commerce growth.

Tougher landscape

According to Lâm, the e-commerce market is unlikely to become an easy environment in the near term.

“The e-commerce market will continue to remain challenging in the next one or two years with significant and unpredictable changes,” Lâm said, adding that the market would continue to adjust, during which weaker sellers would face mounting difficulties.

However, these changes would be vital to laying the foundation for a healthier and more transparent market, with competitive sellers better positioned to diversify beyond platforms by expanding into websites, social media and even offline channels, he said.

“Difficulties are real. But this is also the time to slow down, build more solid foundations and grow more sustainably,” he added.

According to the overview report on Việt Nam’s domestic market 2025 by the MIT, the e-commerce sector in 2025 sustained double-digit growth of 20 per cent, with the online retail market estimated at $32 billion.

This accounted for approximately 12 per cent of total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue, placing Việt Nam among the top three largest e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia.

By 2030, e-commerce is forecast to expand by around 20 per cent annually, with retail e-commerce revenue potentially reaching $70 billion by 2030, ranking third in Southeast Asia after Thailand and Indonesia. — VNS