Vietnam – Cho Tot, an online classified marketplace in Vietnam, has launched a ‘Protected Payment’ feature to enhance the safety and convenience of buying and selling secondhand items. The company also has a solid plan to reshape the future of recommerce via building a comprehensive ecosystem.
Cho Tot is a part of the Carousell Group, a classifieds marketplace group in Greater Southeast Asia. Since launching in Vietnam in 2013, Cho Tot has become a well-known recommerce platform with more than 10 million unique monthly users and more than 1 million used items listed every month. Unlike the traditional consumption cycle, which comprises buying new items and then discarding them, Carousell and Cho Tot enable consumers to buy and sell used items, extending the life cycle of these items. Reinforcing the circular economy helps the community take steps together towards fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In order to increase trust in transacting on secondhand items, Cho Tot’s ‘Protected Payment’ feature is an escrow payment system that provides assurance to users by holding payment until a transaction is verified as successful by both buyer and seller. Supported by third-party payment platforms—mobile e-wallet platform MoMo and intermediary payment service Payoo, as well as on-demand logistics firm Ahamove—transactions via this method are recorded and ensured under Cho Tot’s protection policy. Buyers will be refunded in full if they do not receive items or if the items do not match the description. In addition, Cho Tot will assist in mediating disputes between buyers and sellers in cases of dispute, based on platform policy, to ensure transparency and the rights of both parties.
Additionally, Cho Tot users can now experience much more convenience when buying and selling used items. Previously, transactions of used items would include multiple steps from contacting the seller, bargaining, making an appointment, verifying items, to making payment. Now, buyers only need to click ‘Buy Now’ and make payment, and the item will be shipped to their address as seamlessly as buying a brand new item on an e-commerce site.
On the recommerce growth strategy, Hoang Thi Minh Ngoc, chief growth officer of Cho Tot, said, “With the feature of ‘Protected Payment’, we are reshaping the experience of buying and selling used goods to be safer and more convenient. We are planning to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for recommerce via working with strategic partners providing inspection, authentication, warranty and finance solutions; combining online platform and offline services to enhance the user experience for both buyers and sellers.
“In addition, Cho Tot also partners with organisations advocating for circular economy and sustainable development to encourage consumers to prioritize used items as their first choice, moving towards sustainable consumption,” Hoang adds.
On the partnership with Cho Tot to enhance the buying and selling experience of used items, Nguyen Manh Tuong, vice chairman and CEO of MoMo, shared, “We are proud to provide a secure payment solution and secure account for this pioneering feature of Cho Tot. MoMo believes that this partnership will help solve the ‘bottleneck’ for recommerce in Vietnam, remove barriers, and provide an outstanding experience in buying and selling secondhand.”
Meanwhile, Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and CEO of Carousell, commented, “During the past 10 years, we have tirelessly made efforts to inspire people all over the world to start selling and buying secondhand items. Climate change and over-consumption have made us realise more than ever the importance and relevance of our mission.”
Rui added, “With the introduction of ‘Protected Payment’ on Cho Tot, we are prioritising a safer, more reliable and more convenient experience in selling and buying secondhand items as the core focus of our growth strategy, directing towards serving the various demands of tens of millions of users in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Across these countries, Vietnam is our strategic market due to its largest user base and significant growth rate. We’re doubling down on our support for the Cho Tot team to accelerate growth organically, and we’d be keen to explore inorganic options too.”
