Lazada fined over $13,000 for misleading consumers in Vietnam

The commission said it issued a decision on July 9 imposing a VND350 million ($13,350) administrative fine on Recess for misleading consumers by providing inaccurate information about the services it offered.

Along with the fine, the company was ordered to promptly address the violations and review how it provides information for consumers to ensure that the information is accurate, complete, and compliant with consumer protection laws.

Recess actively cooperated during the proceedings, promptly providing information and documents as requested and proactively implementing the recommendations, according to the commission.

Recess is a legal entity registered in Ho Chi Minh City that operates Lazada in Vietnam.

Lazada is owned by China's Alibaba Group and is one of Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce platforms. 

It entered Vietnam in March 2012, making it one of the earliest e-commerce platforms in the market, alongside Tiki.

Lazada held a leading position for years but gradually lost its market share after Shopee entered Vietnam in 2016. 

The platform later faced growing competition from TikTok Shop, which joined the Vietnamese market in late 2022.

TikTok Shop quickly emerged as a major competitor to Shopee, with Lazada falling to third place from the second quarter of 2023. Its market share has continued to decline.

According to the 2026 Vietnam E-commerce Trends Report by Q&Me, a market research platform operated by Japan-based Asia Plus Inc., Lazada's gross merchandise value fell 37 percent to $385 million from May 2025 to April 2026, from $607 million in the previous 12-month period.

Lazada's market share thereby fell from six percent to just three percent, while Shopee and TikTok Shop accounted for more than 54 percent and 41 percent of the market, respectively, between May 2025 and April 2026.

Tiki, which entered the market around the same time as Lazada, saw an even sharper decline, with its GMV falling from $27 million to just $5 million, leaving it with only a marginal share of the market.

In a related development, the National Competition Commission earlier fined Shopee, another e-commerce platform operating in Vietnam, VND200 million ($7,630) under a decision issued on May 15, 2026 for providing misleading information for customers about its 'Free shipping for every order' promotion on August 8, 2025.

The ruling found that some advertising content did not fully disclose the promotion's exclusion conditions, leading users to misunderstand the scope of the offer.

Shopee was also ordered to publicly correct the information on its website, app, and social media channels.