Vietnam e-commerce sales rise as online shoppers turn more price-conscious

Gross merchandise value across Vietnam’s four largest e-commerce platforms – Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Tiki – reached more than VND458 trillion (US$17.64 billion) in 2025, up 26 percent from a year earlier, market research firm YouNet ECI said in its annual e-commerce revenue and consumption report.

The growth rate was nearly three times that of Vietnam’s overall retail and consumer services sector, which expanded 9.2 percent last year, according to official statistics.

Despite the headline growth, transaction data showed signs of pressure on consumer demand.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the volume of goods sold on the platforms fell eight percent from the same period a year earlier, while average selling prices rose 33 percent, the report showed.

YouNet ECI attributed the price increases largely to higher fees introduced by e-commerce platforms in 2025, which forced many sellers to raise prices.

The higher costs led consumers to be more cautious about online purchases, particularly for non-essential goods.

A survey conducted by YouNet ECI and social media analytics firm Buzzmetrics found that younger consumers were especially sensitive to prices.

Generation Y consumers, born 1981–1996, expressed concerns about economic prospects, while Generation Z consumers, born 1997–2012, remained more optimistic but faced income constraints, with most households earning less than VND30 million ($1,155) per month, the survey showed.

As prices surged while incomes showed limited improvement, consumers shifted spending toward essential items, the firms said.

Looking ahead to 2026, YouNet ECI forecast that Vietnam’s e-commerce market would continue to expand at a double-digit pace, but said pricing pressure would remain high.

Smaller sellers with limited capital and those trading in non-authentic goods were increasingly exiting major platforms, the firm said.

The number of sellers declined more than five percent, while average revenue per seller increased 33 percent, indicating that market share was becoming more concentrated among large brands and authorized distributors.

“Consumers are no longer focused solely on price but are placing greater importance on transparency, credibility, and a consistent shopping experience across channels,” Nguyen Phuong Lam, head of market insight at YouNet ECI, said in the report.