Vietnam’s e-commerce market is expanding rapidly, but safeguards against fraud, counterfeit goods, and platform dominance have struggled to keep pace, leaving consumers vulnerable and legitimate businesses under mounting pressure.
After more than 12 years of shopping on Lazada, an online retail platform, Trinh Thi Thu Ha, a resident of Binh Trung Ward in Ho Chi Minh City, decided to stop using the service after concluding that her trust had been abused.
In September 2024, a Sharp KS-161 mini nut milk maker she had purchased through Lazada broke down. Following the seller’s instructions, she sent it in for warranty service on September 11, 2024. Nearly a month later, however, the appliance had still not been returned.
The seller repeatedly promised to resolve the matter before eventually ceasing to respond. Lazada told her it would contact the seller but provided no concrete resolution.
Ha had encountered a similar problem earlier when she bought a Casio calculator through the platform. When the device failed to work, she took it to an authorized service center, where she was told that the product was counterfeit and only its packaging was genuine. She filed a complaint with the platform and was required to provide extensive evidence, but the case was not resolved to her satisfaction.
Brand impersonation is another growing
Pham Van Truong, a resident of Tan Phu Ward in Ho Chi Minh City, said he encountered numerous Facebook pages using names similar to the official brand of a Dak Lak-based business when searching for ca phe se, an old Robusta coffee variety.
“Every time I scroll through social media, I feel overwhelmed and cannot tell what is genuine and what is fake. Consumers are confused, while legitimate businesses suffer the losses,” he said.
The tourism sector faces similar risks. Tourism expert Nguyen Minh Man warned that fraudulent Facebook pages and websites were impersonating reputable brands to advertise tours and travel packages at unusually low prices. When customers fall victim to scams, legitimate operators must spend money addressing complaints while suffering damage to their reputations.
These cases illustrate a growing contradiction in online commerce: shopping has become increasingly convenient, yet consumers who encounter problems can still be left to pursue the parties responsible themselves. Counterfeit products, misleading advertising, and brand impersonation are eroding market confidence, hurting both buyers and legitimate businesses.
Vietnam’s e-commerce market continues to expand rapidly. A survey conducted by the Vietnam E-commerce Association in early 2026 found that 90 percent of respondents had purchased goods online, 87 percent preferred shopping through mobile phones, and 61 percent favored online shopping over traditional retail channels.
Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong, a resident of Cau Kieu Ward in Ho Chi Minh City, said her family had grown accustomed to ordering everything from clothing and household appliances to small everyday necessities online.
For small businesses, digital platforms have also become an important
Bui Thi Phuong Quyen, who sells banh cuon, a Vietnamese steamed rice-roll dish, on Nguyen Thuong Hien Street in Ban Co Ward, said joining GrabFood and ShopeeFood had helped her increase orders during peak hours and provided her family with its main
As consumers concentrate their spending on a handful of platforms, sellers increasingly have little choice but to establish a presence on them.
Data from Metric and YouNet ECI, two market research and analytics firms, showed that sales across Vietnam’s four major e-commerce platforms — Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada and Tiki — reached approximately VND291.6 trillion (US$11.1 billion) in the first half of 2026, up 44.1 percent from a year earlier. The number of products sold increased 13.7 percent to more than 2.63 billion.
Shopee and TikTok Shop accounted for approximately 97 percent of the combined sales of the four platforms. Meanwhile, the number of stores generating revenue fell by nearly 27 percent, reflecting intensifying competition and increasingly severe market consolidation.
The power of these platforms extends beyond their market share. Their algorithms, search rankings, advertising systems, livestreaming features, and affiliate marketing programs influence which sellers reach potential customers and how prominently their products appear.
Combined with control over customer data, payments, delivery, and returns, these capabilities give platforms an increasingly influential position across the commercial value chain.
As dependence deepens, sellers have less control over operating costs, customer relationships, and distribution channels. The declining position of Vietnamese platforms such as Sendo and Tiki in a market increasingly shaped by capital, technology, and data also raises a broader question: how much commercial autonomy and economic value can domestic businesses retain in a market worth tens of billions of US dollars?
The cost of doing business through e-commerce platforms is one of the clearest signs of sellers’ growing dependence.
Beyond transaction fees and commissions, merchants must pay for advertising, promotional campaigns, shipping, returns, and other services. As a result, higher sales do not necessarily translate into higher profits.
Ms. Nguyen Le Ai Hop, Deputy Director of K.T.H. Co., Ltd., which produces Vietnamese pork sausage, fermented pork rolls and other local specialties, said her company’s experience illustrated the gap between gross sales and actual earnings.
Last month, sales through TikTok Shop exceeded VND338 million. However, the company received only about VND181 million after more than 46 percent was deducted for discounts, promotional expenses, and service fees.
The business also had to cover cold-chain packaging, shipping, and a 10-percent affiliate marketing commission under the program it had joined.
“In many cases, businesses are barely earning enough to cover their labor,” Hop said.
Her company continues selling online to attract new customers but is also expanding its traditional distribution network to reduce its dependence on digital platforms.
Nguyen Trang, who owns an essential oils and cosmetics shop in Ho Chi Minh City, said selling costs on e-commerce platforms could account for 35 to 50 percent of a product’s selling price.
Some products that generated direct-sale profits of VND20,000 to VND30,000 per unit instead left her having to absorb additional costs when sold through platforms.
Facing similar pressures, some merchants have attempted to direct customers to their own websites, Zalo accounts or Facebook pages. However, doing so requires them to manage their own marketing, payments and delivery arrangements.
Sellers are particularly concerned about their limited bargaining power, the difficulty of forecasting platform charges and their lack of direct control over customer relationships.
When sales volumes rise, but profit margins shrink, businesses have fewer resources to improve products, develop their brands and invest in long-term growth.
Fraud in online retail continues to change form, highlighting the need to close regulatory loopholes, establish clear lines of responsibility and strengthen consumer protection to restore order and ensure fair competition.
Ms. Lai Viet Anh, Deputy Head of the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the agency had worked with platforms since the beginning of 2026 to remove 116,000 products and take action against more than 51,000 violating stores.
The cases primarily involved pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and goods infringing intellectual property rights.
In Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, Deputy Head of the municipal Market Surveillance Sub-department, said authorities had handled 897 e-commerce-related violations since the beginning of the year.
They had seized more than 223,000 products valued at over VND19.2 billion and imposed fines totaling more than VND13 billion.
One of the biggest obstacles is identifying the people behind online selling accounts and locating the actual warehouses where goods are stored.
Sellers frequently change accounts, addresses, and delivery arrangements, while merchandise may be distributed across multiple warehouses and intermediaries. Enforcement agencies must combine online monitoring with on-site inspections and cross-check transaction records, invoices, and other documents to identify the parties responsible.
The situation calls for a shift in enforcement priorities, from removing individual online stores to tracing sellers, product origins, and every link in the distribution chain.
Vietnam’s 2025 Law on E-commerce, which took effect on July 1, 2026, and Decree No.248/2026/ND-CP, detailing provisions of the law, establish a roadmap for electronic identity verification of sellers and livestreamers. Verification requirements are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
However, identity verification is only the first step. Seller information must also be checked against tax records, payment data, invoices, shipping information, and warehouse records in accordance with applicable regulations.
Since July 1, 2025, e-commerce platforms with payment functions covered by the relevant regulations have been required to withhold, declare, and pay taxes on behalf of household businesses and individual sellers.
Monitoring financial flows must also be linked to product traceability, particularly when livestream hosts, sellers, product owners, and warehouse operators are different parties.
Interconnected data systems linking platforms, tax authorities, market surveillance agencies, and delivery companies could help establish responsibility more accurately and prevent repeat offenders from simply opening new accounts.
Identifying sellers must be accompanied by effective complaint-handling mechanisms, particularly when merchants fail to respond. Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam, a lawyer at Cong Quyen Law Office in Ho Chi Minh City, advised consumers to retain invoices, order information, product photographs, labels, and correspondence as evidence when requesting exchanges, refunds, or filing complaints.
Buyers should first contact the seller and request a specific resolution. If the seller fails to respond appropriately, they can ask the e-commerce platform to intervene.
Consumers who discover counterfeit or substandard products can report the matter to market surveillance authorities or seek guidance and assistance from the Vietnam National Competition Commission or a consumer protection association.
Suspected fraud or the production and sale of counterfeit goods should be reported to the police. Consumers may also file lawsuits seeking compensation for losses in accordance with the law.
Yet effective consumer protection cannot depend solely on individual buyers having the time and persistence to pursue complaints.
Platforms should publicly disclose their complaint channels, investigation procedures, response deadlines and obligations to cooperate with relevant parties, allowing customers to track cases and understand how they are resolved.
For businesses facing brand impersonation, tourism expert Nguyen Minh Man recommended proactively registering and protecting intellectual property, publicizing official sales channels and using QR codes, electronic anti-counterfeiting labels and uniquely identifiable tickets and vouchers.
Authorities should respond promptly to impersonation accounts and develop reliable databases through which consumers can verify businesses and their official channels.
Personal data protection is another essential component of online consumer safety. Regulations and enforcement mechanisms should clearly establish what personal information can be collected and used, as well as the responsibilities of each party when data breaches or other incidents occur.
More importantly, complaints should be tracked through to a definitive outcome. Consumers need to know where to report a violation, who is responsible for handling it, and when they can expect a response.
Simply removing a product or closing a violating account, without addressing the underlying conduct or informing complainants of the outcome, risks allowing cases to disappear without meaningful accountability.
Tighter enforcement must go hand in hand with a healthier competitive environment.
Mr. Huynh Anh Dung, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Rights Protection Association, said platforms should disclose their fee structures, selling prices, promotional policies, delivery charges and transaction terms.
Clear information would help consumers make informed purchasing decisions while allowing sellers to operate under more predictable and reasonable conditions.
A transparent market would also help legitimate businesses compete against counterfeit products, fraud, and unfair commercial practices.
Ho Chi Minh City is also promoting digital commerce models that extend beyond conventional online retail.
The city’s Department of Industry and Trade and Arobid Technology Joint Stock Company launched Expo Platform, which uses data and artificial intelligence to connect businesses with domestic and international buyers, on September 29.
The Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center signed a cooperation agreement with Arobid to develop ITPC Platform, a digital environment for trade and investment promotion, on October 1.
Mr. Le Van Danh, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, described digital platforms as an extension of traditional trade promotion activities.
After two months of pilot operations, the platform had recorded more than 26,000 visits from 116 countries, attracted interest from more than 100 investors and received several requests for meetings.
Cross-border business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is another area of opportunity.
Ms. Nguyen Do Thao Quyen, Head of Business Support and Development at ICOM 2, an authorized Alibaba.com agent in Vietnam, said more than 2,000 Vietnamese businesses were operating on the platform.
They were concentrated mainly in agriculture, food processing, textiles and garments, footwear, handicrafts and furniture.
To benefit from international digital marketplaces, businesses must meet quality standards, demonstrate reliable supply capacity, manage transactions effectively and carefully assess participation costs.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan, Director of the E-commerce Development Center under the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, said the market was entering a phase in which value creation, operational efficiency and sustainability would matter more than growth alone.
As of September 2026, Vietnam’s e-commerce market was valued at approximately US$32 billion, equivalent to nearly 12 percent of the country’s total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue.
The market still has substantial room to expand, he said, but businesses and household enterprises must comply with accounting and electronic invoicing requirements.
Authorities, meanwhile, need to continue refining the legal framework, helping businesses adopt technology and strengthening oversight to create a safer, more transparent market.
Dr. Huynh Thanh Dien, a lecturer at Nguyen Tat Thanh University in Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnamese businesses had considerable opportunities in B2B commerce, logistics, payment services, seller-support technology and online exports.
Realizing that potential, however, requires more than increasing transaction volumes or attracting consumers to digital platforms.
Vietnam’s e-commerce market will become genuinely stronger only when counterfeit goods are effectively curbed, consumers are adequately protected, and domestic businesses have the capacity to retain customers, control their data, and capture a greater share of the value they generate.
Livestream commerce presents particular enforcement challenges. Sellers, broadcasters, and merchandise owners may be separate entities, while livestreaming locations change frequently and the goods being promoted may be stored elsewhere.
These arrangements complicate efforts to establish accountability, trace product origins, and preserve transaction records.
Under the e-commerce law and Decree No.248/2026/ND-CP, platforms must verify livestreamers’ identities according to the implementation schedule, retain livestream data for at least one year, stop broadcasts and remove violating content, and comply with removal requests from competent authorities within 24 hours of receiving them.
Sellers and livestreamers are also required to provide truthful information about their products.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it would continue strengthening platforms’ responsibilities for identity verification, product monitoring, and the handling of violations. It would also increase coordination with the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies to investigate and address unlawful pharmaceutical sales and advertising, while refining penalties for violations.
Mr. Huynh Anh Dung urged online shoppers to exercise caution by choosing reputable stores, checking product origins, requesting invoices, and reviewing return policies and additional charges. Consumers should actively report suspected violations and seek assistance from authorities or consumer protection organizations when necessary.
For merchants, transparency and credibility are essential to long-term survival. As platform costs rise, businesses should focus on operational efficiency, product quality and clear pricing rather than shifting the entire burden onto consumers.
Over the longer term, developing strong domestic digital platforms with competitive technology, data capabilities and logistics networks could help reduce costs, protect legitimate businesses and balance the interests of consumers, sellers and service providers.
Cross-border B2B platforms can offer Vietnamese suppliers access to international buyers without requiring them to rely exclusively on traditional distribution networks. Importers can place smaller orders to test samples before committing to larger transactions, while supplier verification tools, payment safeguards and AI-powered services can help mitigate risks.
Ms. Nguyen Do Thao Quyen said searches on Alibaba.com had increased 160 percent since 2022. Annual participation costs ranged from US$1,999 to US$10,000, depending on the service package and promotional requirements.
Businesses should therefore assess the expected return on investment, select target markets, and strengthen their operational capacity before committing to a platform.
Technology can facilitate connections, but product quality and the ability to fulfill orders reliably ultimately determine whether suppliers can retain international customers.
