Lazada loses grip on market

Lazada downgraded constantly

According to Statista, the ranking of e-commerce websites have changed. People have been impressed by the big campaigns and long-time promotions of e-commerce websites.

Shopee ranked first with 123.2 million visitors in the fourth quarter of 2018. Tiki has also surpassed Lazada to rank second with 107.9 million visitors. Lazada ranked third with 97.6 million visitors, closely followed by Thegioididong (88.3 million) and Sendo (76.2 million).

These five sites were also doing their utmost to make it into the Top Ten in Southeast Asia, according to iPrice Insights and SimilarWeb.

Meanwhile, according to Statista, the Vietnamese e-commerce industry has jumped to stand as the sixth e-commerce market over the world, with the total revenue of $2.27 billion, up 29.4 per cent on-year. There were around 49.8 million clients on e-commerce sites in 2018 (up 2.6 per cent), and 72 per cent of orders came from mobile apps.

2018 also saw numerous investments into e-commerce platforms, along with strange and expensive marketing campaigns. In early 2018, Tiki received VND122 billion ($5.3 million) from VNG Corporation and $44 million from Chinese investor JD.com. This platform also impressed customers with the recent campaign that ran under the slogan "Troi oi, tin duoc khong?" (“Gosh can you believe it?”) and the participation of celebrities Truong Giang and Nha Phuong to advertise delivery within two hours and discounts of 91 per cent.

Similarly, after receiving $51 million from eight investors lead by Japan's SBI Holdings, Sendo started a lot of television and online advertising campaigns, signing with singer My Tam (called Chi Dai Sen Do).

Meanwhile, Shopee Vietnam got $50 million from Sea Group, and climbed to the first place in visitor number in 2018 due to its numerous communication activities and promotion programmes.

The largest Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba, poured an additional $2 billion into Lazada, which was one of the main reasons maintaining its position in Vietnam. Last year, Lazada seemed to spend less on advertising and marketing on social media.

However, according to the report of Statista, customers still have reservations about e-commerce, the quality of goods, after-sales services, and payments.

With the growth rate of 22 per cent last year, e-commerce is highly contested and players are dropping out left and right due to the pressure.

Additionally, the market still flies well below its potential, while 53 per cent of the Vietnamese population uses the Internet, nearly 50 million use smartphones, and 55 per cent of the population is in the age range of 25-29 years.