Facebook, the top social media platform in Vietnam, might have found another way to captivate Vietnamese users: E-Commerce.
According to Decision Lab’s “Connected Consumer” report for Q4 2021, consumer sentiment towards major e-commerce platforms didn’t change wildly compared to the previous period. Yet, Facebook commerce found amazing growth during the final quarter of 2021.
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 most dramatic increase in popularity of Facebook as a commercial platform happened among Gen X respondents. Eleven percent more Gen X consumers turned to Facebook for shopping purposes compared to Q3 2021. Facebook Commerce grew by 2% and 4% for Gen Y and Gen Z respectively.
The rise of shopping on Facebook can also be seen across locations in Vietnam. When asked which e-commerce platform they use most often, 31% of Hanoi citizens picked Facebook. This figure marks a 11% points increase among consumers from Hanoi compared to Q3 2021.
Facebook Commerce was also utilized by 9% more consumers from HCMC and other key cities (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.
However, while Facebook is gaining popularity as an e-commerce platform, it’s experiencing declines in other areas. Globally, Facebook's user base decreased for the first time in Q4 2021.
In Vietnam, Facebook 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 favoring other platforms such as Zalo and TikTok.
For more insights from Decision Lab’s Connected Consumer Report, download the full Q4 report for FREE here. To get in touch about our entire suite of agile marketing products, reach out to one of our expert consultants today.
