Hanoi (VNA) - With a developing economy and apopulation of over 97 million in 2020, Vietnam is a promising market fore-commerce and that promise has only grown over the last year despite thecoronavirus pandemic, said an article published by the South China MorningPost on June 1.

The article cited a January 2021 report by the country’sMinistry of Industry and Trade’s Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy,which said 53 percent of the Vietnamese population has already took part inonline retail.

It also said the “E-conomy SEA 2020” report from Google,Temasek and Bain & Company pointed out that e-commerce in Vietnam grew 46percent year on year, alongside strong growth across most sectors except fortravel. Looking towards 2025, the report suggested the economy will reach 52 billionUSD in value, ranking third in Southeast Asia.

According to the article, the fast-growing middle class is drivingthe sector’s increasing expenditure, with its number reaching 33 million in2020, up from 12 million in 2012. As the local middle class expands, there’salso a growing interest in top luxury brands, the author said.

The second most popular channel for shopping for luxury brandsis through social networks, the article said, adding that Vietnamese spendabout seven hours per day on average on the internet, mostly on Facebook andYouTube but also on Zalo (a local chat app) and Instagram.

It concluded that this all suggests Vietnam can be a goldmine for individual small sellers with private online shops. Fashion and beautyare the two most common searches and purchases online too, accounting for 55percent and 30 percent respectively, according to the Asia Plus survey.

During COVID-19, e-commerce further surged, noted theauthor, citing a report conducted by iPrice Group and App Annie, which showedthat the total number of visits to online shopping applications in Vietnam inthe second quarter of 2020 reached 12.7 billion, the highest ever, and up 43 percentcompared to the first quarter. In the first six months of 2020, the averagespending on online shopping of Vietnamese people increased by 31 percentcompared to the same period in 2019./.