Visa study shows pandemic sets Vietnamese retailers on path to digital
09/24/2021
Vietnamese consumers are embracing online shopping and social commerce in response to pandemic restrictions
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, has today released data that highlights tremendous acceleration in digital forms of retail and consumption in Vietnam, according to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes study1. Social distancing and work-from-home arrangements made 2020 a year of upheavals for many Vietnamese consumers, rearranging commerce with immediate effect and far-reaching implications for the future of retail.
With consumers spending more time at home than ever before, Visa’s Consumer Payment Attitudes study across Southeast Asia highlights a remarkable shift away from physical stores with years of eCommerce adoption compressed into a span of several months. The shift has been a boon to home delivery as 87 percent of Vietnamese respondents now use this service – including 82 percent who tried it for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost 6 in every 10 delivery orders now go to a home address, a 20-fold increase since before the pandemic.
Madam Dang Tuyet Dung, Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos said: “Consumers have acquired a taste for the convenience of online shopping – and the more online payments they make, the more they find it is safe and hassle-free. This will most certainly push businesses to develop digital capabilities and wade deeper into eCommerce.”
The world is moving away from the clear-cut distinction of physical and digital, and towards a retail experience leveraging the best of both worlds, with social media integration and digitally-enhanced offerings even at physical outlets2. The vast majority (77 percent) of Vietnamese consumers are now aware of shopping through social networks. Awareness and adoption are by far the strongest among consumers aged 18-23, who have embraced social commerce as a useful feature of platforms they spend a lot of time on anyway.
Retailers are now taking business to consumers’ homes through social networks. Forty-one percent of Vietnamese businesses were tapping into social commerce in 2020 to meet consumer expectations3. As the favored channel to consume digital content, social media platforms are ideal for brands and merchants to engage vast audiences on a more personal level. Not only can retailers generate leads through targeted advertising, they can also provide the essential personal touch along with promotions calibrated to individual needs.
Madam Dang Tuyet Dung added: “By constructing a reliable and highly secure digital payment ecosystem, we are empowering innovation with new payment solutions to provide a smooth journey of fulfillment for the digital shopping experience. This supports merchants in developing their offerings and reaching consumers in formulating new digital habits.”
Visa is offering a wide range of support to businesses, especially those of a small or medium size, to successfully embark on this digital journey. Along with useful solutions such as a Business Reporting tool that can save SMEs significant time in expense management, Visa has been sharing its expertise with business owners through the Practical Business Skills platform, the Retail University program in partnership with Vietnam E-Commerce Association, and mobilizing its wide network of partners to draw more consumers to digital platforms.
1 The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study was prepared by CLEAR in Aug-Sep 2020, surveyed amongst 7,526 consumers in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia.
2 “Omnichannel shopping in 2030”, McKinsey & Company, April 2021.
3 “Vietnam E-business Index 2021”, Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM).
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.