Vietnamese Youth Use Livestreaming to Sell Farm Produce
Youth-led online campaigns in Vietnam are successfully using livestreaming to sell farm produce directly to consumers. These digital initiatives, particularly active ahead of the Tet holiday, demonstrate how social commerce and influencer marketing can connect rural producers with urban and potentially international markets.
- Vietnam's e-commerce market is projected to reach $33.57 billion in 2026, with digital commerce accounting for approximately 9% of total retail sales. The food and beverage category is the fastest-growing segment, with a compound annual growth rate of 27.25%. - The Vietnamese government is actively promoting digital transformation in agriculture through its National Digital Transformation Plan, which aims to create a modern and sustainable agricultural sector by 2030. The plan includes financial support for high-tech agricultural investment and digital skills training for farmers. - For the 2026 Tet holiday, 63% of Vietnamese consumers utilized e-commerce platforms for their shopping, a notable increase from 48% the previous year. During a six-week period leading up to the holiday, sales on just two platforms, Shopee and TikTok Shop, reached approximately VND 67.7 trillion. - Despite the growth of e-commerce, significant challenges remain for farmers, including a lack of digital literacy, high logistics costs that can account for 20-40% of the product price, and intense competition from larger agribusinesses on digital platforms. - In a strategic shift, Vietnam aims to reduce its overall rice export volume to about 4 million tons by 2030, focusing instead on increasing the value of its exports. The strategy prioritizes high-quality, fragrant, and specialty rice, with a goal of having 40% of exports fall into these categories by 2030. - To support its agricultural modernization, Vietnam is enhancing its use of technology, including remote sensing and AI, to create advanced monitoring systems for agriculture and the environment starting in 2026. The country is also developing digital tools like RiceMore for near-real-time monitoring of rice production and to promote low-emission farming practices. - The number of agricultural products available on e-commerce platforms in Vietnam saw a 30% increase in the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year. By the end of the second quarter of 2025, over 13,000 "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) items were being sold through digital platforms. - Challenges in exporting agricultural products through domestic e-commerce platforms persist, including navigating complex regulatory systems and ensuring consistent product quality for international markets. While there have been successes, such as shipping lychees to Europe, the overall contribution of these platforms to agricultural exports remains limited.
