Digital Marketing Services for eCommerce in Vietnam: A Practical Guide

In an era where Vietnam boasts 80 million internet users, standing out on crowded marketplaces like Shopee, TikTok Shop, or eCommerce in general is tougher than ever. That’s why many brands are exploring specialized digital marketing services for eCommerce in Vietnam to leverage local insights, mobile‑first strategies, and performance‑driven campaigns that drive sales and build lasting customer trust. With Vietnamese shoppers expecting seamless, personalized online experiences, performance and relevance have become the currency of success.

Navigating Vietnam’s Booming yet Challenging eCommerce Landscape

Current State of the Market

Vietnam’s retail e‑commerce market exceeded US $25 billion in 2024, marking a 20% YoY jump driven by rapid digital adoption and government support for online trade. Across the broader digital economy, gross merchandise value (GMV) reached USD 36 billion in 2024, with eCommerce itself accounting for US $22 billion, highlighting how online retail is fast becoming the backbone of Vietnam’s consumer market.

Even more striking, over 57 percent of these transactions occur on mobile devices, underscoring why mobile‑first strategies are now table stakes for any e‑tailer.

The current state of eCommerce in Vietnam

Key Challenges for Businesses

Opportunities come with just as many obstacles to address, and eCommerce in Vietnam has plenty of both. Generally, these setbacks may be quite substantial, but once you have found solutions for them (in the form of digital marketing for eCommerce), they can be cast aside quite effortlessly.

• Fierce Platform Competition: Dominant players like Shopee, Lazada and Tiki vie for market share against fast‑rising newcomers such as TikTok Shop, Temu and Shein, often triggering price wars and aggressive promotions.

• Fragmented Consumer Trust & Payments: Varied preferences for cash‑on‑delivery, e‑wallets and international cards create friction in checkout flows and complicate fraud prevention.

• Omnichannel Complexity: Juggling multiple sales channels—from marketplaces to direct‑to‑consumer websites, demands robust inventory sync, consistent branding and unified customer service.

Why Tailored Digital Marketing Is the Solution

Speaking Local Consumer Language

To win Vietnamese shoppers’ hearts, your campaigns must speak their language, literally and culturally. From Tet season greetings (“Chúc Mừng Năm Mới”) to Mid‑Autumn harvest motifs, brands that tap festival‑driven promotions see higher engagement and conversion rates.

Local trust signals, such as MoIT certifications, Vietnamese‑language testimonials and community‑focused messaging, further reassure buyers, since 88 percent of Vietnamese consumers rely on social proof before purchasing

Mastering Platform‑Specific Tactics

Each marketplace and social channel in Vietnam operates uniquely. On Shopee and Lazada, optimizing flash‑sale slots and strategic keyword bids drives visibility during peak hours. Meanwhile, TikTok Shop’s live‑streaming “shoppertainment” format demands real‑time scripts, exclusive coupon drops and interactive Q&A segments to sustain viewer interest, brands using these tactics have seen up to 20 percent uplift in live‑session conversion rates. Zalo Ads, too, rewards hyper‑targeted messaging through local phone‑number audiences and in‑app mini‑games, making it a must‑test channel in any e‑commerce mix.

How can digital marketing allow eCommerce businesses to grow?

Data‑Driven Performance Focus

Digital marketing services for ecommerce in Vietnam hinge on rigorous KPI tracking. Setting clear metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), and conversion rate (CVR) allows agencies and brands to pivot quickly when campaigns underperform. 

Real‑time dashboards, powered by tools such as Google Analytics 4 and platform APIs, enable minute‑by‑minute budget reallocations and A/B tests on creatives or targeting. This data‑driven agility ensures every đồng spent contributes directly to growth and profitability.

Core Digital Marketing Services for eCommerce Vietnamese

Marketplace Advertising

On Vietnam’s top marketplaces like Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop, success hinges on three pillars: campaign structuring, keyword optimization and flash‑sale strategies. Sellers should segment products into tightly themed ad groups, bid aggressively on high‑intent keywords and continually A/B test listing variations to boost click‑through rates.

Joining platform flash–sale events (e.g., Shopee’s 12.12 or Lazada’s SuperBrand Day) amplifies visibility: qualified products earn premium placement on homepages and search results, driving spikes in conversion during limited windows.

Paid Social & Search

Beyond marketplaces, paid channels like Facebook/Instagram Ads, Google Search & Shopping, TikTok Ads and Zalo Ads unlock broader reach. Vietnamese consumers spend over two hours daily on social media, so layering prospecting and retargeting campaigns, with creative testing across image, video and carousel ad formats, yields strong ROI.

Meanwhile, Search & Shopping campaigns capture high‑intent buyers: structuring Shopping feeds by product type and leveraging dynamic remarketing can lift ROAS by 20 to 30% in local tests.

SEO & Content Marketing

Organic search remains a powerful, cost‑effective channel as 68% of all online experiences in Vietnam start with a search query, and long‑tail keywords now constitute 55 percent of SEO targeting in e‑commerce.

Brands should optimize product pages with Vietnamese‑language titles, bullet‑pointed benefits and schema‑markup for rich snippets, while publishing value‑driven blog posts around gift guides, how‑to tutorials and trend reports to attract qualified traffic and build backlink authority.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) & Analytics

Turning clicks into customers requires continuous testing and deep analysis. Run A/B tests on key checkout pages, experimenting with form layouts, trust badges and urgency messaging, to squeeze out extra percentage points of conversion.

Use heatmaps to uncover scroll‑depth drop‑offs and funnel‑analysis tools to pinpoint where shoppers abandon carts. Then deploy real‑time dashboards (e.g., Google Analytics 4, Data Studio) so stakeholders can reallocate ad budgets or push new creatives the moment performance dips.

Major digital marketing services for eCommerce

Influencer Marketing

Influencers and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) remain potent drivers of trust and discovery: 97% of Vietnamese businesses believe influencer marketing delivers strong ROI, and 58 percent plan to boost their budgets in 2025.

Micro‑ and nano‑influencers, prized for high engagement and niche audiences, can generate authentic user‑generated content and livestream promotions that account for nearly 25 percent of e‑commerce GMV in Vietnam. Whether gifting products for review or sponsoring livestream slots on TikTok Shop, tight KPI alignment and clear briefing ensure each collaboration moves the needle on sales.

On Digitals’ eCommerce Expertise

On Digitals brings together dedicated specialists across every facet of digital commerce. Their marketplace team, fluent in Shopee, Lazada and Tiki mechanics, structures campaigns with precision, optimizes storefront keywords and times flash‑sale activations to capture peak traffic.

Meanwhile, the paid media studio orchestrates cross‑channel funnels on Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok and Zalo, continually testing creatives and automating bids to maximize ROI. Behind the scenes, the in‑house SEO and content crew crafts Vietnamese‑language product pages, long‑tail blog posts and backlink campaigns that boost organic visibility.