Vietnam – Popular social media platform Facebook has gained new grounds in Vietnam as an alternative to e-commerce services, according to data from marketing research company Decision Lab.
According to their report, Facebook Commerce grew by 2% and 4% for Gen Y and Gen Z respondents respectively during Q4 2021. In addition, around 31% of Hanoi citizens picked Facebook as their choice for e-commerce services. This figure marks a 11% points increase among consumers from Hanoi compared to Q3 2021.
The report also noted that Facebook Commerce was also utilised by 9% more consumers from Ho Chi Minh City and other key cities such as Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hai Phong, and Can Tho in Q4 2021. In contrast, throughout the rest of Vietnam, Facebook commerce only grew by 2% points, standing at 24% in this time period.
Despite its popularity as an e-commerce platform, Facebook is losing ground as a social media platform in the country. The platform lost 11% of its position as Vietnamese’s primary app in Q4 2021–a continuation of a negative trend starting early 2021. Worse, Facebook seems to be losing Millennial and Gen Z users, who are increasingly favouring other platforms such as Zalo and TikTok.
“The general rise of Facebook as an e-commerce platform reflects Facebook’s push for commercial activities. In Vietnam, consumers can trade goods through not only Facebook Marketplace, but also Facebook groups, shops’ pages, and individual merchants,” the report stated.