IN FOCUS

In today’s newsletter, we look at:

• Vietnam’s ecommerce power struggle
• Amazon’s low-price offerings

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Hi,

November 11 may have passed, but the shopping season isn’t over.

A lot of people I know already did their Christmas shopping during the Singles’ Day sales events. Personally, I’ve opted to wait for Black Friday to get gifts for my family (definitely not because I still don’t know what to get them).

In Vietnam, holiday shopping on Singles’ Day drove massive sales on ecommerce platforms.

We can expect that much of this shopping was done through the usual suspects: Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.

As my colleague Peter shows in this week’s featured story, local players Tiki and Sendo appear to have fallen from favor in their home country – although they are still part of the top five ecommerce platforms.

There might still be hope for these homegrown heroes though, with Vietnam recently tightening its grip on Chinese online retailers.

Meanwhile, in this edition’s Hot Take, I discuss how Amazon is looking to take Temu for a ride on the Chinese ecommerce firm’s own turf.

— Miguel

THE BIG STORY

Tracking Vietnam’s $22b ecommerce power struggle

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Local platforms risk being squeezed out by Chinese and other foreign competitors if they fail to adapt.

THE HOT TAKE

Toe to toe with Temu

Here’s what happened:

• Amazon has launched a new section on its app called Amazon Haul, focusing on low-priced items.
• Products on Amazon Haul are priced at US$20 or below, with most under the US$10 mark.
• Orders on Amazon Haul take longer to ship but are protected under Amazon’s A-to-z Guarantee program.

Here’s our take:

It’s no secret that the ecommerce segment on low-priced goods has taken off in the US, as is evident from the rise of marketplaces like Temu in the country. For Amazon, it’s also a segment worth fighting for, and this might spell trouble for the platforms that came before it.

Shortly after its launch in the US, Temu had won 17% of market share in the country as of November last year. It also had more downloads worldwide over the last month compared to Amazon.

Temu’s big discounts and low prices are some of its main draws and are key differentiators compared to incumbents in the US. However, Amazon is now attempting to level the pricing playing field with Amazon Haul.

Haul is a service within the Amazon app itself, with products backed by the company’s A-to-z Guarantee customer protection scheme.

Features like this, as well as Amazon’s longstanding position as the king of ecommerce in the West, may help Haul edge out Temu in one area: trust.

A survey earlier this year found that only 6% of US consumers trust Temu, well below the 86% Amazon commands. More than tw0-thirds of the respondents, however, still shop on Temu, with price being the main consideration.

But with Amazon putting the spotlight on its lower-priced segment, would buyers still have a reason to choose Temu?

That’s it for this edition – we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter here.