According to an iPrice Group study, the ranking of e-commerce businesses in Vietnam's Map of E-commerce has changed in Q2 2021. On the other hand, the volume of searches on Google for essential online stores has skyrocketed.

Lazada Vietnam, A Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Platform, Has Risen to Second Place

According to a study conducted by iPrice Group and SimilarWeb, the top 50 shopping sites’ web visits in Vietnam's Map of E-commerce in the first six months of 2021 reached more than 1.3 billion. It is the highest ever and is up by 10% from the first quarter of 2021.

For the past 12 quarters, Shopee Vietnam has ranked first in terms of average website traffic. Shopee Vietnam obtained 73 million visits in Q2 2021, which increased by 9.2 million from Q1 2021.

After being surpassed by competitors for several consecutive quarters, Lazada Vietnam rose to second place in the "four-horse race" in terms of website visits on a multi-vendor e-commerce platform. As a result, Lazada Vietnam's average website traffic increased by 14% compared to the first three months of the year, reaching 20.4 million visits.Vietnam's most popular multi-vendor e-commerce platforms, Q2/2021, iPrice Insights 

Meanwhile, the average visits to the websites of two domestic e-commerce platforms Tiki and Sendo slightly decreased, reaching 17.2 and 7.9 million respectively.

Thus, in the first quarter of 2021, the ranking of e-commerce businesses is shifting. Based on the current trend, the game is likely to be dominated once again by foreign e-commerce businesses.

According to Facebook and Bain & Company's annual Southeast Asia report, Vietnam's e-commerce sales sector is expected to reach $12 billion in 2021. At the same time, the market size ranks second in the region after Indonesia, with an estimate growth of 4.5 times more, reaching $ 56 billion by 2026.

This shows that Vietnam's e-commerce business has a bright future ahead and will continue to grow rapidly. The pandemic, on the other hand, is still ongoing, and there is a high likelihood that it will continue to cause further changes in the future.

Demand for Online Grocery Stores Increase During Social Distancing 

iPrice's study also shows that online grocery is the only category that has maintained steady and consistent growth since the beginning of the pandemic. This also partly explains the strong increase in demand for online stores selling essential products during the months of social distancing.

Google searches related to online grocery stores increased by 223% in Q2 2021. The number of searches increased 11 times in July compared to May and 3.6 times compared to June when the social distancing order under Directive 16 was implemented in some provinces and cities.

People pay more attention to fresh food, beverages, pre-packaged items, fruits & veggies as the searches of these items surge by 99%, 51%, 30%, and 11% respectively compared to the previous quarter.

Thus, social distancing could be one of the factors driving the surge in demand for online supermarkets. With the growing necessity of purchasing essentials online, retailers are more likely to adapt to the digital platform. 

In addition, iPrice discovered that grocery items in Vietnam is among the cheapest in the ASEAN region after comparing the prices of popular offline grocery items in Southeast Asian countries from Numbeo, one of the world's largest user-contributed databases.Singapore, in particular, tops the list with the highest cost of shopping items at 2.5 million VND ($110), followed by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Dairy, Carbs (Bread & Rice), Meat (Chicken & Beef), Fruits & Veggies, Water (1.5L), Alcohol & Cigarettes are all separated by category and weight.

In general, Vietnam is the second cheapest country in Southeast Asia to buy groceries. According to Numbeo users, the price of these items in Vietnam is only about 1.2 million VND (54 USD). This cost is lower than Singapore (106%), Thailand (27%), Indonesia (18%), Malaysia (13%), and just a bit higher than the Philippines (9%).

The estimated cost, excluding alcohol and cigarettes, is only about 942 thousand VND (41 USD). This demonstrates that, even during the COVID-19 period, purchasing products to meet basic daily living needs in Vietnam remains “easier on the pocket” than in other countries in the region.