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Vietnam's e-commerce revenue kept hitting new highs through 2025, but behind that growth curve sits a fact rarely mentioned: hundreds of thousands of sellers are dropping out of the market. That paradox captures the real nature of the e-commerce challenges in Vietnam for 2025-2026: this is no longer a story about scaling up, it's a survival story about operating efficiency, legal compliance, and protecting cash flow from cybersecurity risk.
For small and mid-sized businesses selling on Shopee, TikTok Shop, or expanding into international markets, understanding today's e-commerce challenges in Vietnam is a prerequisite for building the right adaptation strategy, rather than getting swept up in the market shakeout.
1. Vietnam's E-Commerce Market In 2026: Hot Growth, Deep Polarization
According to figures published by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam's e-commerce market reached an estimated USD 31-32 billion in 2025, growing 25.5-27% year over year and contributing roughly 10-12% of total retail sales and consumer services revenue nationwide. That backdrop sets up one of the most notable e-commerce challenges in Vietnam: total revenue is climbing, but the gains aren't shared evenly.
According to Thuong Hieu va Cong Luan, Shopee and TikTok Shop now control roughly 97% of Vietnam's online revenue market share. Shopee leads with 56.04% share, yet its seller count dropped 32.1% as the platform prioritized profit optimization and advertising efficiency. TikTok Shop's gross transaction value grew 148% in the first half of the year on the back of livestream and short-video entertainment commerce. Meanwhile, Lazada holds onto just around 3% of the market and Tiki's revenue plunged 80% in the first half of 2025.
The direct consequence is a market shakeout: the total number of revenue-generating shops fell 7.43% in 2025, down to 601,780, and in Q4 alone, 20,750 shops recorded zero revenue. The "branded mall" trend: consumers increasingly favoring official flagship stores, which is widening the gap between small sellers and well-invested brands.
2. Rising Operating Costs Are Eating Into Seller Margins
One of the most common e-commerce challenges in Vietnam facing small and mid-sized sellers is the "profit on paper, loss in reality" trap. According to Thuong Hieu va Cong Luan, roughly 40% of small and mid-sized businesses can't calculate their real profit because they fail to allocate hidden costs correctly.
2.1 Hidden costs and the margin problem
Net profit margin is calculated by subtracting total costs: cost of goods sold, platform fees, advertising fees, return costs, and taxes, from revenue, then dividing by revenue.
Formula: Net Profit Margin (%) = (Revenue − Total Costs) / Revenue × 100
On average in 2025, e-commerce platform cost components typically included:
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Advertising and affiliate marketing fees: 15-20% of revenue
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Platform maintenance fees: 5-10% of revenue
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Returns and loss-handling costs: about 10% of total orders
Stacked together, these fees drain cash flow even as reported sales figures keep climbing.
2.2 Inventory risk and multichannel breakdowns
Without integrated inventory management software, sellers routinely oversell against actual stock: the cause behind 30% of consumer complaints tied to a platform showing an item in stock when it's actually sold out. The result is heavy platform penalties or account suspensions, compounding the e-commerce challenges in Vietnam sellers already face.
This is exactly why technology platforms like Genbook are increasingly the choice for cross-border sellers looking to automate data reconciliation and track cash flow in real time, instead of handling it manually across multiple marketplaces.
3. Decree 117 And 70: The Tax Changes Household Businesses Need To Know
The regulatory environment is an e-commerce challenge in Vietnam that can't be brushed aside for 2025-2026. Effective July 1, 2025, Decree 117/2025/ND-CP and Decree 70/2025/ND-CP require e-commerce platforms with payment functions to withhold, declare, and remit tax on behalf of household businesses and individuals selling on their platforms, fully automated the moment a transaction completes.
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Business category
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VAT
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Personal income tax (residents)
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Distribution, supply of goods
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1%
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0.5%
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Services
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5%
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2%
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Transport and goods-linked services
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3%
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1.5%
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For non-resident individuals, the applicable rate is 1% VAT and 1% personal income tax on goods, and 5% for each tax on services. Under Decree 70/2025/ND-CP, household businesses with revenue of VND 1 billion or more are also required to issue e-invoices generated directly from cash registers.
For online household businesses used to operating informally, this shift forces a complete overhaul of bookkeeping practices, and slow adaptation means real exposure to back-tax collection and penalties. It's also a good moment to consider corporate structuring and tax planning services to get tax obligations right from the start, rather than scrambling once an audit begins.
4. Cybersecurity: AI-Powered Attacks And Multichannel Scams
E-commerce cybersecurity is the fastest-growing front among the e-commerce challenges in Vietnam businesses face heading into 2026. According to Thuong Hieu va Cong Luan, over 8% of e-commerce businesses reported ransomware attacks in 2025, a frequency up 152% from two years prior, with the Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Dcryptor strain, sold as attack-tools-for-rent, as the main actor.
Alongside that, personalized scams and coordinated multichannel fraud are surging: impersonating police authorities, fake delivery couriers, and voice-cloning or deepfake technology used to stage fraudulent video calls that pressure victims into scanning a QR code or completing biometric verification to hijack their bank accounts. Attacks typically chain several channels together: spoofed bank messages, phishing links that mimic real sites with up to 99% accuracy, automated chatbots, before the final takeover step.
Investing in firewalls, multi-factor authentication, and staff training on security defense protocols is no longer optional: it's a baseline requirement for protecting customer data and business cash flow.
5. Green Compliance And Last-Mile Logistics Costs
Last-mile logistics now accounts for up to 53% of a single order's total shipping cost, pushing real logistics costs past 20% of GDP due to overloaded infrastructure. This is one of the e-commerce challenges in Vietnam that directly squeezes seller margins, especially on lower-value orders.
On the export front, green barriers are getting sharper as the European Union moves to require e-commerce product packaging to be 100% recyclable starting in 2026 and extends its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to consumer goods. Vietnam has also piloted a domestic carbon market since 2025 and will formally apply voluntary carbon credit cancellation procedures from August 1, 2026.
Online exporters need to proactively switch to recycled packaging materials or biodegradable bioplastics, while partnering with logistics providers to roll out smart parcel-locker delivery models that cut last-mile costs.
6. Overcoming E-Commerce Challenges In Vietnam: What Should Sellers Do?
The e-commerce challenges in Vietnam for 2026 don't stem from a single cause: they're the compounding effect of cost pressure, legal tightening, and cybersecurity risk hitting the same business at once. Sellers who get a handle on all three: transparent cash flow, full tax compliance, and solid security infrastructure, are the ones who'll stay standing through the shakeout.
Sliner works alongside cross-border e-commerce businesses to solve the root of the operating-cost problem: automating multi-platform data reconciliation, standardizing financial reporting, and tracking cash flow in real time, the foundation for making decisions based on real numbers instead of scattered guesswork.
Learn more about Sliner's accounting automation service, or get in touch directly for a roadmap tailored to your business model.
Data source: Thuong Hieu va Cong Luan.
