The Vietnamese online market is undergoing a tectonic shift: buyers are increasingly less focused on the lowest price and more often choosing reliability, authenticity, and service. For Russian entrepreneurs who build their entry into Southeast Asian marketplaces on the familiar dumping strategy, this is not an abstract trend but a direct signal: the old entry model is ceasing to work.
What Happened
The combined turnover of Vietnam's four largest platforms (Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, Tiki) at the end of 2025 amounted to approximately 455–458 trillion dong, or roughly $17–18 billion, with growth of about 26% year-on-year. This data comes from YouNet ECI and was published by Tuoi Tre News. The market is growing rapidly, but within this growth, the very logic of purchasing is changing.
A Milieu Insight study, distributed via PR Newswire, showed that Vietnamese shoppers demand more than low prices. Seller reliability, service quality, and centralized platform accountability for goods are coming to the fore. PwC's Voice of the Consumer 2025 survey for Vietnam (around 515 respondents) records the same vector — PwC Vietnam directly points to a shift toward quality and trust.
According to Visa and YouGov data published in April 2026, 76% of Vietnamese make online purchases two to three times a month — Visa. Purchase frequency is growing, but so are expectations: a shopper who visits a marketplace every week quickly learns to distinguish real value from a cheap storefront.
What This Means
For a Russian seller accustomed to entering a new market through the lowest price, this means the rules of the game are changing. In Vietnam, the regulator is actively tightening the screws: according to VietnamNet, in the first half of 2026, nearly 20,000 smuggling and counterfeit cases were handled, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is advancing a new e-commerce law submitted to the National Assembly in October 2025. Platforms are required to verify sellers, combat counterfeits, and bear responsibility for misleading listings.
The practical effect is already visible. Analysts at MBS Vietnam in a report dated March 7, 2026, note a mass exodus of some sellers after increased scrutiny, rising commissions, and tax pressure, while "reputational brands" are increasing their market share precisely due to the shift in demand toward quality. In other words, the platform itself is squeezing out those who built their business on price alone.
An important detail: the market is segmented. According to NielsenIQ and TGM Research, in budget categories, price sensitivity even increased in 2025–2026 — reflecting rising platform fees and pressure on incomes. At the same time, VietnamNet in June 2026 cites a study across six countries where nearly 90% of shoppers choose official stores, even if they overpay by up to 30%. This is not a contradiction but a map of opportunities: where health, authenticity, and warranty are at stake, the buyer pays more; where the product is indistinguishable, they haggle down to the last dong.
For the Russian seller, the conclusion is unpleasant but honest: categories where you can compete only on price are categories where you will be squeezed out by commissions, taxes, and inspections. Categories where you build trust, certification, and brand are categories where margin appears.
Expert Commentary from VietSmart
I see this in operations in Ho Chi Minh City every day. Our partners come with the same mistake: first they calculate how much they can undercut a competitor, and only then do they think about what they are actually selling. Over the past year, inquiries have shifted — now they more often ask about certificates, official seller registration, and how to build brand recognition, rather than how to beat a neighbor on price. This is the market signal, it just comes through specific questions, not through analytical reports.
Conclusions and What to Do
- Check the legality of entry before the first shipment. A foreign seller on a Vietnamese platform operates under Decree 85/2021 and the clarifying Decree 248/2026 — make sure your registration and tax status meet the requirements, otherwise the account will be blocked at the verification stage.
- Build a trust package for each SKU. Certificates of origin and quality, warranty, official store status — these are exactly the elements that, according to Milieu Insight and PwC, buyers are willing to pay for. Without them, you compete only on price.
- Review your assortment on the "price versus trust" criterion. Keep in your portfolio categories where the buyer is willing to pay for authenticity and service, and ruthlessly cut those where you can offer nothing but a low price.
- Factor rising commissions and tax costs into your unit economics. The MBS Vietnam report dated March 7, 2026, directly points to a revision of average selling price forecasts — calculate a scenario where the platform takes more, not less.
- Build a brand, not a listing. Work with local content, reviews, and recognition in Vietnamese. Reputation is the only asset that does not reset with the next commission increase.
Source: Vietnam.vn dated October 6, 2026