Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)

Vietnam is expected to be the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia by 2026, with e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) reaching 56 billion USD by 2026, 4.5 times the estimated value of 2021, according to a report by Facebook and Bain & Company.

In the annual SYNC Southeast Asia report which looks at the digital economy in the region, the two big market observers said located in a vibrant part of the world, Vietnam is at the forefront of driving change and seizing opportunities to thrive based on digital transformation in a post-pandemic future.

The study surveyed about 16,700 digital consumers and more than 20 C-level employees in six Southeast Asian countries, including 3,579 survey participants from Vietnam.

The report described Southeast Asia as a leader of digital transformation in Asia-Pacific and Vietnam as one of the best performers.

In Vietnam, seven out of 10 consumers have digital access and the country will have 53 million digital consumers by the end of 2021, the report said.

The number of goods categories purchased by Vietnamese online shoppers this year went up 50 percent compared to 2020, while that of online stores in Vietnam also rose by 40 percent year-on-year, resulting a 1.5-fold increase in total online retail sales nationwide.

Some 49 percent of Vietnamese consumers switched to a new online marketplace within the last 3 months, based on considerations of price incentives (45 percent), product quality (34 percent), and availability of goods (33 percent).

For the first time, the payment using cash is at risk of being dethroned with a significant decrease from 60 percent in 2020 to only 42 percent in 2021. Safety, privacy and service fees are the three main concerns of Vietnamese consumers when considering these types of payment.

This year, Vietnamese people spent most of the time on using social networks, texting, watching videos, shopping online, and emailing. They used 72 percent of their time for regular activities at home instead of going out./.