TikTok Shop in Vietnam for a full year successful or not, it’s all about internet celebrities

The success of TikTok Shop in Vietnam for a year depends on internet celebrities

In April 2022, TikTokShop announced its launch in Vietnam and it has been over a year since then. With the user base accumulated from TikTok, TikTokShop has grown rapidly, with the number of active sellers surpassing Lazada and ranking second. At the same time, TikTokShop has also encountered some obstacles, with continuous friction between brands and KOLs.

BusinessDialogue learned that recently, e-commerce data analysis company YouNetECI analyzed TikTokShop’s growth data in Vietnam, using data to illustrate its growth process in Vietnam, and revealing some of the difficulties TikTokShop encountered when dealing with brand and KOL relationships.

TikTokShop’s rise in Vietnam cannot be separated from internet celebrities

At the beginning of TikTokShop’s entry into Vietnam in April 2022, it had obvious advantages. At that time, TikTok had 49.9 million users in Vietnam and was growing rapidly. In particular, the growth in the number of platform KOLs allowed TikTokShop to rapidly rise.

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YouNetMedia’s data shows that from August 2022 to March 2023, the number of KOLs on the TikTok Vietnam platform with more than 20,000 fans increased by 90.6%, from 40,644 to 77,480, almost doubling.

Three months after its launch, TikTokShop launched the “7/7 Super Sale Live” event. Thanks to the spread of KOL’s influence, the event sparked widespread discussion on Vietnamese social media. Data shows that in July 2022, 53,697 people discussed TikTokShop on social media, doubling from June.

Moreover, KOLs refreshed multiple sales and traffic records through TikTok live streaming and sales, attracting even more attention to TikTokShop. In January 2023, KOL PhạmThoại’s 24-hour live sales reached 76,000 products, and in March 2023, KOL VõHàLinh’s first live sales event attracted 80,000 viewers.

After being online for 10 months, TikTokShop has become the third most-discussed e-commerce platform on Vietnamese social media, surpassing Sendo and Tiki. As of March 2023, the number of discussions about TikTokShop on social media has reached 320,000, which is 4.7 times that of Tiki.

Over the past 12 months, the number of people discussing TikTokShop on social networks has skyrocketed. Data source: SocialHeat, YouNetMedia.

With huge traffic and wealth-generating capabilities, TikTokShop has attracted a large number of e-commerce sellers. From January to May 2023, the visits to TikTokShop’s store management page increased by 282% year-on-year, with a monthly visit volume of 4.2 million times. As a result, TikTokShop has surpassed Lazada to become the second-highest e-commerce platform in terms of active sellers in Vietnam, second only to Shopee.

According to YouNetECI, in April 2023, TikTokShop’s traffic and store management page officially surpassed Lazada.

TikTokShop’s revenue in Vietnam has also achieved remarkable results, with its GMV growing 11 times in the past year and the number of orders growing six times.

Friction between internet celebrities and brands has caused TikTokShop to face crises multiple times.

Undeniably, TikTokShop’s sales growth in Vietnam has brought great market opportunities to brands. However, due to conflicts between platform KOLs and brands, TikTokShop has been involved in public opinion disputes about product quality issues multiple times.

In December 2022, when Vietnam saw a peak in online shopping, TikTokShop’s growth was hindered due to counterfeit product issues. At that time, two major brands in Vietnam, Estée Lauder and MAC Cosmetics, accused TikTok influencer Trương Nhã Dinh of selling counterfeit products, sparking controversy about the source of TikTokShop’s products.

In April 2023, TikTokShop faced its biggest crisis since entering the Vietnamese market. At that time, internet celebrity Võ Hà Linh sold Hoa Linh’s herbal products on TikTok live at a price several times lower than the market price, which caused dissatisfaction among other distributors of the brand, who believed that it lowered the market price.

The above events show that for brands marketing on TikTok, while collaborating with internet celebrities to drive traffic, they also need to consider the rights and interests of distribution channels. There are also many other risks in collaborating with internet celebrities, such as delivery quality, advertising content, return and exchange policies, and customer service. Therefore, brands need to do a good job of supervising in this area.

After one year of entering Vietnam, the potential of TikTokShop has been verified, but at the same time, the problems exposed by the platform cannot be ignored. A TikTok Vietnam spokesperson has stated that TikTokShop still has some issues, and rapid growth is not necessarily a good thing. The platform is working hard to repair and resolve these issues.

Editor ✎ Ashley/AMZ123

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