​​​​​​According to CommonThread, the global cosmetics eCommerce market size is valued at 483 billion USD in 2020 and grew to 511 billion USD in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.75%. The market size is anticipated to surpass 716 billion USD by 2025 and reach 784.6 billion USD by 2027.

The amazing growth rate of the online cosmetics sector demonstrates both the industry’s enormous potential to grow and its significant contribution to the global economy. Cosmetic companies must encourage the development of eCommerce websites to enter the market rapidly and take control of it in order to keep up with the economic trend as a whole.

It takes time to develop an online store for cosmetics, and SECOMM has detailed and analyzed the two key stages of the process.

Stage 1: Basic cosmetics eCommerce website development

Targeting

The first important thing a cosmetic business needs to do is to set goals and prioritize those goals in the short and long term. 

In the short term, promotional activities, monitoring, analyzing, and measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, especially user experience should be the top goals that need to be promoted.

In the long term, cosmetics eCommerce businesses should focus on increasing brand recognition and online business capabilities of their products.

At this stage, businesses do not have much data to analyze and evaluate for the whole process, so they can listen to a lot of advice from specialized eCommerce implementation consulting units with a lot of experience in long-term consulting to get the right list and priority of goals for both this period and beyond.

Platforms selection

In today’s market, there are two types of platforms that are dedicated to building eCommerce websites, including SaaS platforms and Open Source platforms.

SaaS platforms

Service as a Software (SaaS) is a service-based software application distribution model for eCommerce business purposes.

In other words, the provider creates and maintains software to help build an eCommerce website and the business will pay a certain cost to use this service.

With SaaS, the entire website system is hosted on the provider’s server, so ownership and control of the source code and data will belong to the provider.

This means the SaaS service provider will be responsible for handling and fixing technical problems arising during the cosmetic eCommerce implementation. 

• Pros: Easy to use, fast deployment time, good security, 24/7 customer service.
• Cons: The cost of building an eCommerce website increases over time, businesses cannot own the source code and data, and the functions and capabilities of customization and expansion are limited.

Some of the popular SaaS platforms today are: Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc

Open-Source platforms

An Open Source platform or an open source platform is software with a widely released source code that allows users to download, modify and upgrade necessary features for eCommerce business purposes.

The platform is often developed by a community of developers rather than a single company.

Moreover, this will be the ideal platform for implementing complex eCommerce website systems, specific to many fields including cosmetics thanks to in-depth customization functions.

This means that businesses need to cooperate with professional eCommerce website builders or develop a team of highly qualified internal staff to operate the website effectively.

• Pros: Customizability, flexible extension, diverse features, and add-ons, businesses own the source code and website data. 
• Cons: The cost of building an eCommerce website is high, the implementation time is long and it is not easy to use.

The most prominent Open Source platforms on the market today: Magento, OpenCart, WooCommerce (WordPress Plugin), etc. 

At this stage, businesses should choose a SaaS platform to start with to familiarize themselves with the eCommerce business as well as save budget for more important investments such as marketing,…

Then, when entering the second stage, the business scale has now grown and expanded, and switching to the Open Source platform is now necessary and reasonable to achieve the goal of eCommerce growth.

Web interface design

After choosing a platform to build a cosmetic eCommerce website, the business will design the website interface so that the standards of UI/UX are met in order to optimize the website, showing the characteristics of the brand and cosmetics industry.

​​So, businesses can choose one of the following three ways to design an eCommerce website interface:

• Using the available interface: This way helps businesses save interface costs compared to the other two ways. Both SaaS and Open Source platforms provide a variety of UI/UX interfaces with prices ranging from $300 to $500.
• Customizing based on the available interface: Almost the same as the first way, but businesses will customize the interface to suit the needs of brand development.
• ​​Using a self-designed interface: Companies can start thinking about designing their own website interface right immediately to develop a brand image that is unique and more creative than rivals. Even while this is more expensive for businesses than adopting an already-existing interface, the “tailor-made” design interface will match the industry-specific requirements and expectations of the company during the eCommerce deployment phase

Usually, in stage 1, businesses should only use the available interface or customize based on the available interface because the basic functionality system needed, most of the interfaces provided are already there.

Functional system development

In the first stage, businesses should prioritize developing the basic functional system needed for a complete cosmetic eCommerce website, specifically including: 

• Category management: Manage product categories, functions, prices, images/videos to optimize business operations.
• Sales management: Manage order information, understand and analyze customers’ shopping behavior effectively.
• Marketing management: Integrating features such as URLs, meta tags, and internal links to optimize SEO, combined with effective marketing campaigns to achieve sales goals.
• Content management: Build and optimize content for the CMS system from text, images, banners, widgets, and templates to brand content, blogs, etc.
• Customer management: Store, manage and analyze customer information and customer groups, thereby improving marketing effectiveness to optimize the online shopping experience.
• System management: Manage and decentralize administrators to operate, secure and maintain the eCommerce website system.
• Store management: Use inventory management tools at branches, stores, and warehouses to ensure a continuous and efficient supply process.
• Cart and checkout management: Manage customer shopping cart and payment information.
• Analysis and reporting: Analyze and measure the performance of the eCommerce website system, thereby giving the next business strategy.

Functional system development

Legal procedures finalizing

The final step of building a basic eCommerce website is completing the necessary legal procedures for the website to be allowed to operate legally.

Businesses can follow the simple registration steps as instructed at the eCommerce Management Portal.

This is a mandatory requirement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for every individual or organization that owns an eCommerce website to sell goods and to perform the registration/notification obligation on time.

Stage 2: Advanced cosmetics eCommerce website development

Re-targeting

Along the business development journey that comes with the constant change of consumer behavior, business goals, and strategies need to be adjusted and re-established to match the current context of the eCommerce market. In addition, at this stage, businesses also have problems, data, and insights about online users, so setting goals will be easy.

In the short term, businesses can prioritize finding and attracting potential customers and growing online sales with effective marketing.

In the long term, a cosmetic business can consider the goal of expanding the market segment by identifying the target market segment and making a marketing strategy in accordance with the product characteristics and the direction of the business in the second stage. 

In addition to short-term and long-term goals, businesses need to focus on considering the time and cost of investing in the cosmetic eCommerce website system because, at this stage, the cost and investment budget will often be large. much more than the basic construction phase above.

eCommerce platform switching

In the beginning, cosmetics businesses are advised to develop their initial eCommerce websites using SaaS platforms. However, the restricted capability and customizability of SaaS won’t be able to satisfy that expectation given the second phase’s objectives of growth and scalability.

To create more specialized cosmetic eCommerce websites at this moment, companies can think about moving to Open Source platforms with respected names like Magento, WooCommerce, etc.

Some suggested criteria to consider when choosing an Open Source platform:

• ​​Support to design eCommerce website interface based on UI/UX standards.
• Provide functional systems from basic to advanced and specific to the cosmetic industry.
• Flexible customization, high extensibility, integration with third-party services, and a variety of add-ons.
• High security.

Besides that, businesses should be aware of the costs associated with switching from a SaaS platform to an Open Source platform, the time required for staff to learn on the new platform, the danger of data loss, and any issues that may occur.

Resources selection

Unlike the basic eCommerce website building stage, in the second stage of the implementation process, businesses need to choose resources for development. Businesses can build an internal team or seek support from a specialized developer.

The business will hire and train skilled and specialized IT people on the chosen platform for internal team growth. In this case, it will require a lot of time and money from the company, but it will aid in better resource management, control, and active adjustment to develop the eCommerce website system in accordance with the original aim.

Businesses frequently work with a variety of firms to find “true love” in their collaboration with eCommerce website developers. As a result, businesses will receive the eCommerce websites they need as expected, the collaboration process will go smoothly, and businesses will gain more expert knowledge and website development experience from a partner, which will point them in the right direction in terms of the cosmetic eCommerce industry’s development trends.

These are the criteria that businesses should consider when choosing: In-depth knowledge and experience in eCommerce and the cosmetics industry; professional working team; clear and detailed working process; ability to quickly handle problems that arise during website development.

Web interface re-design

Businesses are not required to update the website interface while switching platforms. Redesigning the website interface to work with the Open Source platform, however, is today recognized as a wise company development approach that was introduced simultaneously with the deployment of advanced eCommerce websites.

Similar to the previous period, businesses have three options for designing e-commerce website interfaces, including using the available themes, customizing based on the available themes, and designing their own interface.

Usually, at this step, businesses should choose method 2 or 3 to design the interface to ensure the uniqueness of the brand and the specificity of the cosmetic eCommerce industry.

Upgrade the system with advanced and industry-specific functions

In addition to the basic functions that have been built for the eCommerce website system in stage 1, businesses should concentrate on developing a system of advanced and specific functions for the cosmetic industry in the later stages. 

Today, several well-known cosmetic brands embrace AR (Augmented Reality) technology to improve the customer experience. Customers can now download the AR software, activate the camera, and sample the goods online rather than going physically trying it on in the store to see whether it will fit their face.

The Kylie Virtual World application, for instance, offers users an engaging product experience. Users of the newly released Kylie Cosmetics items, such as eye cream, foundation, and lipstick, can sample the product out in 360 degrees by using their phones to scan the QR code.

eCommerce website system maintenance

A sophisticated eCommerce website system demands a great deal of experience and effort to operate and maintain. This is the procedure of continuously maintaining, updating, and upgrading the entire system to aid firms in foreseeing and resolving problems (for example, sudden increase in traffic from the promotions that stimulate shopping).

That supports sustained and persistent online sales growth, which is important for eCommerce businesses in general and furniture eCommerce in particular as they compete for a market share of this “pie,” which is “delicious” but can be challenging to consume.

eCommerce acceleration

Furniture eCommerce enterprises readily accomplish growth above and beyond expectations by putting into practice efficient business and marketing strategies.

Therefore, the entire process—from planning through implementation—must be structured with effective, practical solutions that have been demonstrated to work. Implementing Omnichannel, eCommerce Marketing, and SEO optimization are some suggested methods for eCommerce enterprises to accelerate growth.

eCommerce business optimization

​​The journey of developing an eCommerce website ends with measuring, analyzing, and optimizing eCommerce business activities.

Businesses can use analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, etc., to track, update and measure website performance metrics as well as the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

From there, the eCommerce business strategy for the next stage of development will be carefully and methodically planned thanks to clear and detailed reports & analysis.

The journey of building a cosmetic eCommerce website with two stages from basic to advanced has been outlined in detail with meticulously analyzed implementation steps. Businesses in the industry can refer to it to draw their own development journey in this potential field.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries in recent years, SECOMM understands the difficulties and challenges in the process of implementing an interior eCommerce website.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

Over time, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly damaged the world economy, with significant consequences for investors and business owners across a wide range of sectors, including the wine sector.

Sales of alcoholic beverages have decreased dramatically as a result of the closure of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs as well as the postponement of big events and festivals.

Despite the global economic issues, eCommerce must be considered among the industries that perform very well. Some companies across multiple areas have enthusiastically embraced eCommerce to weather the downturn.

Also, wine firms follow that wave of change, making eCommerce shine in the new era – the era of digital transformation. 

Why 2023 is the perfect year to deploy wine eCommerce?

Wine eCommerce growth statistic

• Wine eCommerce sales reached $6 billion in 2021, an increase of 131% compared to 2020. In the two years 2021-2022, online wine sales increased by 4%, while in 2020 they only increased by 2%.
•  The online revenue of the wine market reached more than 261 billion USD in 2022 and is expected to grow at 10.51% annually from 2022 to 2025.
• According to IWSR, the global wine eCommerce market value will reach $42 billion by 2024.
• An estimated 1.6% of the total liquor market revenue in 2023 will be generated from online sales.
• The average annual growth rate of wine eCommerce in the US is around 20%.

Key drivers of wine eCommerce growth

Global Pandemic

In the midst of the global pandemic-related crises, the wine business, like many others, saw a breakthrough in the speed of online purchasing.

When the pandemic breakout occurred, 44% of American consumers placed their first-ever online wine and liquor orders.

The year 2020 saw a 42% increase in wine eCommerce as a result. Online wine sales increased from just $1 billion in 2018 to $6 billion by 2021.

Young wine consumer

In the US, according to Avalara, Millennials and the legal drinking age population are steadily increasing.

By 2023, the Millennial generation is estimated to account for nearly 45% of the LDA (Legal Drinking Age) population under the age of 80. By 2030, this number is projected to be 54%.

In Vietnam, Millennials (25–38 years old) and Gen Z (18–24 years old), often known as MillennialZ, currently make up 47% of the population or about 45 million people who are of drinking age. The population structure of the MillennialZ generation is expected to keep growing.

The primary factors influencing the growth of the eCommerce sector as well as the digital economy of Vietnam will also be the young people’s awareness of and keeping up with new trends in digital technology compared to previous generations.

Case study

iShop Changi Wines

The Duty Free Shop Group (DFS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) collaborated on the iShop Changi Wines eCommerce online project, which offers world-renowned and premium wines and spirits with exclusive discounts to visitors to Changi Airport, particularly those who are CAG members.

The iShop Changi Wines website is cutting-edge and exquisitely styled, showcasing the distinctive qualities of the wine industry as well as the aesthetics from page layout, color, font text, logo, and banner, all of which are guaranteed to optimize the purchasing experience while also, and this is crucial, emphasizing the identity and brand-development elements for both CAG and DFS.

Due to the fact that this is a project of well-known companies, the iShop Changi Wines website has consistently received a lot of traffic, averaging approximately 592 thousand views each month since its introduction.

Therefore, to combat the unexpected surge in traffic and orders during the busiest shopping seasons of the year, the eCommerce system must be continually enhanced and optimized.

The fact that major corporations CAG and DFS both started and developed successful wine eCommerce websites shows the enormous potential of this industry now and in the future.

Previously, the business scope of wine businesses was quite limited, but now that limit has been broken thanks to the dominance of the Internet and the rise of eCommerce.

Moreover, the government’s assistance in lowering legal restrictions has given wine producers the assurance to confidently market their goods to a significant number of potential buyers in several nations across the world.

The Warehouse

The Warehouse, established in 2001, is renowned as a top supplier of wines and spirits in Vietnam, offering more than 16 different varieties of wine from numerous nations.

In addition, along with Annam Gourmet Market, Yves Rocher, and Flormar, this is another well-known retail brand of the Nam Group. Before being formally put on the market, products at The Warehouse are consistently inspected and carefully chosen to fulfill quality criteria.

The company has so far increased the reach of its distribution network across the nation, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Quang Ninh, and Phu Quoc.

The Warehouse achieved its objective of serving the wine market with B2B and B2C business models by utilizing the Magento platform.

This implies that the business will broaden the retail channel to include private customers in addition to distributing wines to restaurants, hotels, resorts, pubs, and lounges.

A series of symbols, logos, and banners created especially to fit the characteristics of the wine industry are combined with Bordeaux red to create a website interface that is focused on UI/UX perfection.

The Warehouse is flexible, secure, and has quick ordering, payment, and delivery options. Therefore, customers can place orders through phone, mobile app, or eCommerce website.

Customers can then pick up their purchases from the store or, in major cities like HCM, Hanoi, and Da Nang, the company will deliver them quickly within 2 to 3 hours. In other places, conventional courier delivery takes 2 to 5 days.

The Warehouse has been successful in raising brand recognition, expanding its customer base, and increasing both offline and online sales as a result of the timely growth of its business model and digital transformation

Trentham Estate

Long-standing Australian company Trentham Estate Winery, founded in 1988, focuses on the manufacture and distribution of wine.

After many years in business, the company is well regarded for its creativity in the wine-making process, which resulted in a variety of wines with different delicious flavors. Also, the brand has received hundreds of medals, titles, and other industry awards.

In the beginning, the business created and ran a WordPress website system for branding purposes.

Trentham Estate, however, has been forced to increase its company scale by making a substantial investment in an entire eCommerce website system due to the growth of eCommerce and the increasingly varied purchasing needs of potential clients.

In the beginning, the business created and ran a WordPress website system for branding purposes. Trentham Estate, however, has been forced to increase its company scale by making a substantial investment in an entire eCommerce website system due to the growth of eCommerce and the increasingly varied purchasing needs of potential clients.

That is what led to the creation of the website trenthamestate.com.au, which has a modern interface while still accurately capturing the distinctive features of the wine industry.

Similar to The Warehouse, Trentham Estate likewise creates an eCommerce website based on the Magento platform with a variety of features that satisfies eCommerce requirements and wine industry specifics.

Therefore, businesses can access and serve a wide range of large customer files not only in Australia and internationally thanks to effective marketing and branding strategies, towards a sustainable business model along with the changes of the digital age. 

​​It would be hard to believe that an industry as sensitive as wine could be traded online so easily and efficiently. In that efficiency and convenience, there is a great contribution of the trend of eCommerce and the comprehensive National Digital Transformation program that is committed to supporting by the Government. This is an extremely appropriate time for wine businesses to confidently deploy eCommerce because of the support from the Government and the push from the market.

However, planning to implementation are two completely different categories. Businesses are required to have a practical strategy and technical assistance from highly skilled firms to hasten the success journey and help advance the National Digital Transformation goal. 

SECOMM has many years of expertise in effectively executing eCommerce for numerous customers in various countries. We specialize in offering free consultation services with qualified eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact us right away for free counsel and assistance.

Cosmetics eCommerce is currently developing into a fresh and promising sales channel for companies in addition to the traditional sales channel. Businesses must work hard to sustain and achieve breakthrough growth through eCommerce platforms, though.

As a result, numerous cosmetics companies started developing online cosmetics business websites and found surprising success, such as Kylie Cosmetics, Hasaki, and Guardian,…

These websites’ success can be attributed to their early selection of an adequate and suitable eCommerce platform. Which platforms are appropriate for the cosmetics industry, then?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) is a highly flexible SaaS eCommerce platform that allows companies to offer the best B2B and B2C shopping experiences. Moreover, Salesforce gives Commerce Cloud access to Einstein AI to further enhance this system’s intelligence.

Top cosmetic brands currently using Salesforce Commerce Cloud to deploy eCommerce include L’Occitane, Lancôme, Loreal, Nars, Neutrogena, NYX Cosmetics, and Shiseido,…

Pros:

• SFCC offers a flexible and scalable hosting infrastructure as a cloud-based SaaS platform, and this vendor will be in charge of configuration, updates, maintenance, security, etc., helping users save time and money in these areas.
• Since SFCC is practically a ready-made solution, businesses only need to express their ideas, and SFCC’s IT team will develop them in a matter of weeks.
• The amazingly functional system supports cosmetic eCommerce businesses by allowing customers to select product sizes, purchase items in sets, take advantage of shock deals and flash sales, and receive new customer discounts and loyalty points.
• Unlike other SaaS platforms, SFCC scales and manages traffic spikes for sales seasons and other unplanned events with ease.
• Synchronizing sales channels, reaching, and serving clients across many channels are made possible by omnichannel solutions for the cosmetics industry.

Cons:

• Developers and businesses are required extensive SFCC understanding.
• SFCC charges users on a revenue-based model. Depending on the selected plan package, customers will pay 1 or 2% GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) to preserve website ownership. This means that the higher the revenue, the more expenses must be paid to SFCC.
• Limited integration with 3rd party services.

=> SFCC is suitable for B2C and B2B cosmetic businesses.

Magento

Magento is a popular open-source commerce platform in the field of eCommerce, with nearly 200,000 websites in use. Currently, Magento has 2 versions: Magento Open Source (free), and Magento Commerce (paid).

Cosmetic eCommerce websites built successfully on the Magento platform with high brand awareness include Laneige, Sigma Beauty, and Hasaki,…

Pros:

• Many cosmetics themes from the global developer community and Magento website developers so businesses can use existing themes which easy to customize or use self-designed themes.
• Functional systems from basic to advanced, specialized for the cosmetic industry such as choosing product size, buying in sets, exclusive deals, product suggestions, viewed products, member incentives, etc.
• Due to its comprehensive customization options, Magento enables businesses to fully own, control, and customize the source code, facilitating the efficient operation of systems. Moreover, Magento may be customized to fit the eCommerce requirements of enterprises of various sizes.
• Highly scalable, beneficial for future system expansion, and featuring multiple sites, stores, languages, and currencies.
• Because Magento is a complete eCommerce system, it can guarantee smooth operation and minimize potential dangers from data systems and transaction processes, resulting in high security. As a result, the reputation of the website, system safety, and user rights are all improved.
• There is a huge skilled Magento developer community present worldwide, ready to help with technical issues as well as provide assistance in creating eCommerce solutions appropriate for each business model.

Cons: 

• There is no repository of themes from Magento to support businesses.
• Implementation typically takes three to six months, but it might take up to a year due to a sophisticated functioning system.
• Although the platform is free to use, the cost of implementing eCommerce with Magento is quite high, about $50,000-$100,000 depending on the complexity of the project.

=> Magento is appropriate for a range of cosmetics business types, including B2B, B2C, and B2B2C, as well as for various business sizes, including start-ups, SMEs, and major companies. However, large organizations use Magento because it is frequently relatively expensive to deploy.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows businesses to transform a regular WordPress website into a professional eCommerce website with full features and easy customization with just a few simple steps.

A few good examples of big brands that have built successful eCommerce websites with WooCommerce and generated huge sales such as: MOI Cosmetics, Bo Shop, Nuty Cosmetics, AB Beauty World, Beauty Garden,. ..

Pros:

• There are many free and premium themes from the WordPress and WooCommerce communities for the cosmetics sector which are easy to customize or businesses can use self-designed themes.
• Functional systems from basic to advanced for cosmetic eCommerce business such as similar product suggestions, viewed products, discount vouchers, and new customer incentives,…
• Easy integration with a variety of 3rd party services.
• The cost of building an eCommerce website is not too high compared to other open-source platforms like Magento, with total annual costs ranging from $110 to $1,500+ for domains, hosting, themes, extensions, plugins, etc.
• eCommerce website implementation time with WooCommerce takes about 1 to 3 months to complete.

Cons:

• The functional system is still limited in terms of features specific to the cosmetics industry.
• The scalability is not as high compared to other open-source platforms such as Open Cart, and Magento because it depends on the WordPress system.

=> WooCommerce will be suitable for cosmetics businesses that are familiar with the WordPress platform and want to develop an eCommerce system.

Shopify

Shopify is a popular SaaS platform in the world that provides a variety of solutions for businesses of all sizes to successfully build eCommerce websites. After being in the market for about 20 years, Shopify has gradually grown to become one of the top eCommerce platforms in the world, trusted by many Vietnamese and foreign companies. 

Kylie Cosmetics, Innisfree, Sulwhasoo, Cho Tinh Cua Boo, Guardian, and Ofélia are some examples of companies in the cosmetics industry leveraging Shopify for eCommerce websites and enjoying great success.

Pros:

• Available and diverse themes for the cosmetics industry.
• Functional system from basic to advanced, supporting eCommerce business such as similar product suggestions, viewed products, discount vouchers, and new customer incentives.
• The initial cost is quite reasonable with a variety of options for businesses from $29/month to about $2,000/month.
• The time to build an eCommerce website is quite fast from 1-7 days, or more depending on the complexity of the system.
• Shopify has a large developer community to serve businesses.

Cons:

• The layout of existing templates causes duplicating, and it’s challenging to alter themes or create your own interface because doing so will have an adverse effect on the entire system.
• The system of specific functions for the cosmetics sector is still limited.
• A wider range of 3rd party services but still only integrated with services available in Shopify’s app store.
• Deployment costs are both advantages and disadvantages of Shopify when the initial cost is quite reasonable, but in the long run, businesses have to pay the cost of using the platform, interface, application, etc., regularly every month. This makes it difficult to manage cash flow.
• Because it is a SaaS platform, it will be difficult for Shopify to expand its website in the future.

=> Shopify is considered suitable for start-ups or SMEs with global operations.

Haravan

Haravan is a leading technology firm in Vietnam, that was founded in 2014, with the intention of eventually extending to many other Southeast Asian nations.

It specializes in offering businesses and merchants in Vietnam solutions for eCommerce, engagement marketing, and omnichannel retail.

Haravan has gained the trust of many companies in the cosmetics industry as a result of the efficiency of the website system that the business has created and the ground-breaking online retail sales.

The Face Shop, The World of Lipsticks, The World Skin Food, and Lam Thao Cosmetics are some well-known cosmetics companies in Vietnam that have launched eCommerce websites using the Haravan platform.

Pros:

• Available and diverse themes for the cosmetics industry.
• Wide range of applications, from basic to advanced to start an eCommerce business.
• Reasonable eCommerce deployment cost, various packages from 200,000 VND/month to 3,000,000 VND/month, making it easy for customers to choose.
• ​​The time to build an eCommerce website is fast, only about 30 minutes for businesses to own a website with all the necessary features to get started. However, for the website to work effectively, businesses need to spend more time researching and developing the system.

Cons:

• The layout of existing templates causes duplicating, and it’s challenging to alter themes or create your own interface because doing so will have an adverse effect on the entire system.
• The system of specific functions for the cosmetics sector is still limited.
• Only integrated with services/utilities located in Haravan’s ecosystem.
• Because it is a SaaS platform, it will be difficult for Haravan to expand the website in the future.

=> Haravan is suitable for start-up cosmetics businesses or SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) with operations mainly in Vietnam.

An extremely critical first step in developing a cosmetic eCommerce website is selecting the appropriate platform. Businesses may develop websites more quickly and affordably while enhancing their competitive advantage and sustainable growth by choosing the right eCommerce platform.

The improper platform, on the other hand, will cost firms a lot of money and effort to adopt and switch platforms repeatedly. Therefore, in order to select the best platform, organizations must take into account the objectives and issues with the current model.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional eCommerce implementation solutions. 

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

The electronic commerce market in the liquor industry is currently experiencing robust development and has become a dominant trend in many different countries. In 2021 alone, the number of alcohol consumers increased by 10–20%, and those following the trend saw a growth of 40–50%, indicating significant progress in eCommerce for the alcohol industry in recent times (according to Wine Intelligent).

Not only limited to user growth, the global eCommerce market for wine is expected to grow by 7.7% annually (according to Statista) and reach a value of 1.68 trillion by 2025 (according to Cision). This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for liquor businesses to grasp and develop a business model suitable for the changing market in the digital era.

To embark on an online liquor business, the selection of an eCommerce platform needs careful consideration and precise decision-making. Choosing the right platform aligned with the budget and objectives helps businesses save time in construction, utilise human resources efficiently, and save costs in building and developing the system. Simultaneously, it assists businesses in reaching a large customer base, boosting sales, and seizing sustainable development opportunities in the future.

Currently, there are primarily two types of eCommerce platforms on the market: open-source and service-based. Each type of platform has certain advantages and disadvantages, and businesses need to carefully weigh criteria that align with their business model to choose a suitable platform.

Criteria for Choosing an eCommerce Platform in the Liquor Industry

Suitable Interface for the eCommerce System in the Liquor Industry

Wine products belong to the premium segment in modern life. Therefore, customers always prioritize high-quality visuals, and eye-catching, user-friendly interfaces in the eCommerce system that are easy to use and navigate.

Businesses in the liquor industry need to focus on conveying the product’s value message not only through a well-designed and user-friendly interface but also one that has high aesthetic appeal, with distinctive features to communicate the brand and product values to the specific target customers of the industry. This approach ensures a comprehensive user experience when using the eCommerce system.

Diverse eCommerce Feature System, from Basic to Advanced to Specialized

eCommerce platforms should have a diverse range of features, from basic to advanced, and even specialized features tailored for the liquor industry. This facilitates the efficient and sustainable development of the eCommerce system for businesses. Basic features include management, storefronts, sales, information management, statistics, revenue control, customer lists, invoices, shopping carts, and checkout, as well as reporting and analysis.

Advanced features related to themes, products, marketing, optimized payment solutions, discounts, and shipping cater to the operational and developmental needs of sustainable eCommerce for businesses. Specialized features for the liquor industry may include product allocation, inventory control, membership management (Wine club memberships management), implementing customer loyalty programmes, and product-specific discounts based on business needs.

Read more: SaaS eCommerce platforms vs Open-Source eCommerce platforms

High Integration Capability

For a seamless online business system in the liquor industry, businesses often integrate eCommerce platforms with other software and technology platforms they currently use, such as payment systems, shipping, ERP, POS, CRM, marketing management, etc.

This requires the eCommerce platform to have flexible, seamless, and effective integration capabilities with this software without compromising the execution of each system. This integration not only helps businesses overcome manual operational limitations but also increases automation for both back-office management and sales processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for the business’s development.

Payment and Delivery Software

In addition to supporting Cash On Delivery (COD), platforms need to integrate various payment software, including local and international card options, payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, One Pay, etc.), and digital wallets (Momo, ZaloPay, etc.). The chosen eCommerce platform should have the ability to seamlessly integrate this payment software with high security, safety, and efficiency.

For delivery and logistics, businesses can integrate service providers and popular transportation tracking applications, optimizing and streamlining delivery processes. Businesses can customize and develop delivery modes suitable for customers, ensuring a comfortable and convenient buying and receiving experience for users. Integrating payment and delivery software helps shorten the purchasing journey, optimize the user experience, and prompt customers to make decisions quickly.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Businesses can fully integrate third-party enterprise management software such as ERP, CRM, POS, etc., with the eCommerce system to support efficient and seamless multi-channel eCommerce operations. This synchronizes data on products, categories, orders, and user information across systems, simplifying and automating the back-office management and sales processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for sustainable development.

Marketing Management Software

In addition to the marketing tools available on the eCommerce platform, businesses can integrate additional marketing tools such as email marketing software (MailChimp, Drip, etc.), marketing analysis software (Google Analytics, Google Adwords Keywords, etc.), and social media management software (Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.). Marketing management software helps businesses deploy marketing campaigns, attract customers, and increase conversion rates, maximizing both eCommerce and overall business revenue.

Maximum Scalability

Choosing an eCommerce platform in the liquor industry with high scalability is crucial for businesses to grow sustainably. The platform should seamlessly accompany the business through various business models, from entering eCommerce for the first time to expanding the business system. It should support diverse business models such as B2B, B2C, D2C, and B2B2C.

Furthermore, the platform should assist businesses in operating and expanding by supporting the management of multiple websites, catering to multiple countries, and handling various currencies, all within a unified system. Beyond that, platforms with high scalability not only support expansion but also ensure stable system operation even when the website experiences gradual increases in traffic over time or experiences sudden spikes in traffic during promotional campaigns.

Top 5 Specialized eCommerce Platforms in the Wine Industry

VineSpring

VineSpring is an eCommerce platform created by experts with in-depth knowledge of the wine industry’s operations. As a result, businesses will have an online eCommerce system with specialized features for the wine industry.

Evaluation based on criteria

Interface Criteria

• Industry-specific Interface Design:

VineSpring offers a rich interface library, collaborating with various unique website designers specifically for the online wine industry. This allows businesses to easily build their brand without needing extensive technological knowledge.

• Multimedia Experience:

Understanding the present needs of businesses, VineSpring has developed and optimized its platform to operate flexibly on various media, from desktops and tablets to personal mobile devices. This ensures businesses have a multimedia online presence and provides the best shopping experience.

• Prominent CMS System:

With a CMS system on the VineSpring platform, businesses can fine-tune content and essential product information, brand details, and success stories tailored to their business development needs. This enables businesses to have a highly interactive website and a friendlier user experience.

Integration Capability Criteria

• Shipping Software Integration:

The platform also supports businesses in terms of product shipping. VineSpring can integrate additional shipping software (ShipCompliant and ShipStation), assisting businesses in controlling information and making order tracking easy for customers on the website.

• Management Software Integration:

VineSpring directly integrates with Square POS software through an available technical team. The VineSpring POS system has a “tap, chip, and swipe” feature, enabling businesses to process orders quickly and conveniently. Additionally, VineSpring can integrate CRM software (Salesforce) to provide efficient solutions for management, sales, and customer care.

• Marketing Management Software Integration:

VineSpring supports businesses in marketing through the integration of email marketing software (Mailchimp) for list management and the creation of email marketing campaigns, increasing automation in operations.

eCommerce Feature System Criteria

• Basic and Advanced Features:

Vinspring has a system of basic and some advanced features sufficient for businesses to operate at a basic level. Especially, Vinespring has optimized inventory management features to save time, allowing businesses to access production history details, including information on bottling times, prices, and shipping units.

• Specialized Features:

Vinespring is an ideal solution for developing a business’s recurring revenue model in the eCommerce wine industry. The platform provides businesses with specialized features, such as wine allocation management and wine club member management.

In addition to the mentioned advantages, Vinespring also has a dedicated customer care team. As a Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce platform, VineSpring places a strong emphasis on customer service through 24/7 online chat with experts and telephone support anywhere, anytime. Therefore, businesses will receive the best and fastest support to resolve technical issues, as well as applications, features, and the most convenient and suitable solutions.

Cost

VineSpring is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, so businesses need to pay a fixed monthly fee ranging from $99 to $399, depending on the service package, and may be higher based on business needs:

• VineSpring Starter – $99/month: Provides businesses with a store system that includes hosting, payment software from VineSpring, and free direct support.
• VineSpring Standard – $199/month: Businesses have control over inventory, allocation management, custom store interface plugins, and integration with the ShipCompliant shipping feature.
• VineSpring Professional – $399/month: Businesses receive all essential features from the VineSpring Standard package, along with integration with Square POS software and the MailChimp marketing tool.
• VineSpring Enterprise: Ideal for large-scale wine businesses with high sales volume. The price for this package varies depending on the scale of the business.

User Target

The VineSpring platform (SaaS) is suitable for wine businesses with limited experience in building eCommerce systems. However, the usage fees for this platform are relatively high for small and medium-sized businesses.

WineDirect

WineDirect is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform designed for wine businesses with no experience in eCommerce platforms, helping manage every aspect of online sales and simplifying the business process.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

The WineDirect platform provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface tailored for businesses. Additionally, WineDirect offers a diverse range of free interface templates and features, facilitating easy development of the eCommerce system with just basic website development knowledge and skills.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

• Basic Features:

WineDirect provides fundamental features such as website analytics, sales tools, and options for business event registrations to boost customer engagement. This allows businesses to save time and unnecessary costs associated with other software.

• Advanced Features:

Businesses can possess essential information for creating customized offers and discounts tailored to each customer category, based on statistics gathered through integrated tools. Consequently, businesses can develop personalized shopping experiences and drive higher sales volumes, achieving outstanding results and meeting development needs.

• Special Features:

The platform has leveraged and optimized the WineDirect application, specially designed for mobile devices and is highly flexible for the wine industry. Through the application, businesses can manage products, eCommerce systems, advertising campaigns on the website, and customer information.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Integration:

WineDirect provides integrated payment solutions on the platform, enabling businesses to have a seamless experience across two payment software, such as WineDirect Payments for businesses in the US and Canada, and eWay Payments for businesses in Australia.

With payment software, businesses are supported in processing orders through the website or in-store. Regarding shipping, the WineDirect platform can integrate with various shipping services (UPS, FedEx, Gliding Eagle, etc.), assisting businesses with detailed shipping information for each order and enhancing automation in the shipping process.

• Management Software Integration:

The WineDirect platform can integrate with ERP software, as well as the POS of the business (WineDirect POS, Napa Valley, Oztera, etc.), aiming to synchronize data between the POS system and the eCommerce system, including orders, inventory, wine club members, customer information, helping businesses increase automation in the operational process and manage information effectively.

• Marketing Tool Integration:

WineDirect has integrated available marketing tools on the platform to help businesses save time in system development. This includes providing businesses with access to real-time sales reports, allowing them to send emails based on customer groups depending on marketing campaigns.

Cost

The WineDirect platform is a SaaS (Software as a Service) eCommerce platform with three main pricing plans as follows:

• DTC Starter – $79 + 2% of monthly sales: Businesses integrate marketing tools, payment software, and Ship Compliant shipping, with free hosting included.
• DTC Pro starting from $199 + 1% of monthly sales: Businesses receive all the essential features from the DTC Starter package, as well as customer loyalty programs, reports, and automatic credit card updates.
• DTC Advanced: Businesses get all the features from the DTC Pro package, along with custom benefits to fit the scale and needs of the business. The usage cost for this service package varies based on the business’s requirements and scale.

User Target

Similar to VineSpring, the WineDirect platform (SaaS) is suitable for businesses of various models and sizes that lack extensive experience in building eCommerce systems and technology. However, one platform limitation is its high usage cost, which increases with the business’s monthly sales volume. 

Beyond the high usage cost, operational tools on the platform may be unstable, occasionally displaying errors on the system, such as payment statuses showing as ‘pending processing’ on the business side but appearing as ‘paid’ on the customer side. Despite this, WineDirect has a dedicated customer support team that efficiently addresses business issues, making it a preferred choice for many businesses.

Shopify

Shopify is a well-known giant in the field of building eCommerce systems as a Software as a Service (SaaS). The Shopify platform is favoured in the market for its user-friendly nature, quick system-building time, and low initial costs, making it suitable for a wide range of businesses.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

In terms of interface, Shopify provides many beautiful themes that are well-compatible across various devices. Businesses in the wine industry can choose from several specialized templates designed and offered specifically for online wine businesses by the Shopify platform. Additionally, businesses have the freedom to customize the interface by accessing HTML and CSS code to enhance the brand’s uniqueness. Therefore, businesses can deliver a seamless experience across different devices without affecting the user’s shopping process.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

Basic and Advanced Features:

In addition to basic features related to orders, products, categories, and product management, the Shopify eCommerce platform allows businesses in the wine industry to access profiles and purchase histories to gather customer information. This enables businesses to personalize the shopping experience, from personalized content and product displays to the entire eCommerce journey.

This key aspect helps businesses make a positive impression on consumers and fosters a stronger relationship between both parties. Furthermore, with the mobile application developed by Shopify, businesses can control every aspect of the online store anytime, anywhere, including effective sales management, order fulfilment, and inventory management.

Integration Criteria

• Integration of Payment and Shipping Software:

In addition to supporting direct payment features from the platform itself (Shopify Payment), Shopify also assists businesses in integrating other payment software such as Paypal, Stripe, SagePay, AliPay Global, etc. Regarding shipping software, Shopify collaborates directly with various major shipping service providers like USPS, UPS, and DHL to streamline the process and ensure more convenient shipping for businesses.

• Integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software:

Shopify’s Global ERP Program provides businesses with a system that connects multiple eCommerce platforms with critical business databases such as finance and inventory to optimize operations and business processes. This program includes partnerships with leading global ERP providers such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central, Oracle NetSuite, Infor, Acumatica, and Brightpearl.

• Automatic Integration of Marketing Tools:

Shopify supports businesses in marketing through integrated software within the system. Examples include email software (MailChimp), sales channels (Facebook, Instagram), advertising (Google Ads), etc. Through these integrated marketing tools, businesses have the opportunity to increase sales, automate email marketing, and develop marketing campaigns tailored to specific customer groups.

Cost

Shopify has developed various service plans suitable for businesses to choose from based on their capabilities and scale:

• Basic Shopify – $29/month: Suitable for new businesses with modest sales volume.
• Shopify – $79/month: Suitable for growing online businesses experiencing increased sales.
• Advanced Shopify – $299/month: Suitable for businesses with the need to expand scale and require advanced reporting and analytics tools.

In addition, Shopify has introduced other service plans to cater to diverse business needs:

• Shopify Lite – $9/month: Suitable for businesses wanting to add a buy button and payment services to an existing website or blog.
• Shopify Plus – $2000/month: Provides an advanced eCommerce solution for large enterprises handling a substantial volume of orders.

User Target

Originally an industry giant in the Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce sector with characteristics of rapid system development time, as well as a startup cost suitable for many businesses and easy usability, this platform is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises with limited experience in information technology.

However, in addition to the monthly fees for using additional utilities, Shopify also has limitations in terms of advanced features, unique features, and customization. Businesses must accept that certain features may not be available on the current website and may need to switch platforms when aiming to build a specialized system that aligns with their specific needs and ensures sustainable development in the future.

Read more: 

• What is Shopify Plus? The pros and cons of Shopify Plus
• Shopify vs Shopify Plus 2023: Which is a better choice? 

WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) known as a plugin for WordPress, introduced in 2011. It is completely free and allows businesses to turn their WordPress website into an online store. Therefore, in addition to being suitable for customizing the interface, WooCommerce is also an ideal platform for businesses to have a website with a flexible blog section, high interactivity, and a more user-friendly experience.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

• The rich and customizable form library:

WooCommerce possesses and provides businesses with a rich library of forms designed for the wine industry, carefully crafted and user-friendly. Therefore, businesses can conveniently design and build an eCommerce system right from the beginning without needing in-depth technical knowledge

• User-friendly interface with Product Table:

With the WooCommerce platform, businesses can integrate tools from management systems to features specific to the wine industry. For instance, the platform can integrate with Product Table, a tool that allows wine businesses to have an interface displaying product attributes and numerous high-quality product images, as well as filtering features.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

WooCommerce allows and supports basic features such as inventory management, order processing, inventory optimization, SEO tools, discounts, price reductions, sales statistics reports, and easy integration with payment and shipping providers. In terms of advanced features, the WooCommerce platform supports businesses in the wine industry with opportunities for wholesale orders and discounts, boosting sales through the eCommerce system. However, the platform has some limitations in terms of specialized features for the wine industry, as making certain edits can potentially cause instability in the system.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Software:

For payments, businesses can use plugins to integrate payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Square into the system, ensuring high security and safety.

Regarding shipping, businesses can integrate with various shipping providers that collaborate with WooCommerce, such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS, enabling efficient processing and optimization of the shipping process to provide the best shopping experience for consumers.

• Business Management Software:

The WooCommerce platform allows and supports businesses with integrable business management software, typical examples being Odoo, Square POS, and WP ERP. This enables businesses to save time, and costs, improve business efficiency, and automate management processes.

• Marketing Management Software:

Businesses can integrate marketing management software to support their operations, such as email marketing (MailChimp), advertising (Google Listings, Google Ads, Facebook), and analytics software (Google Analytics). This helps businesses increase traffic, promote repeat shopping, and optimize personalization for consumers.

Cost

The WooCommerce platform is an open-source platform, and thus, the platform itself is entirely free to use. However, businesses may incur development costs when utilizing the platform, such as domain registration fees ($15), hosting fees ($120/year), and system development costs (ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the complexity of the system).

User Target

WooCommerce is a suitable platform for wine businesses already familiar with WordPress and looking to expand their eCommerce systems, offering numerous basic features built with high availability from developers in the strong global community. However, WooCommerce is not perfect for businesses with a large number of products, as the system tends to be unstable with more than 2,000 SKUs. 

The platform also has limitations in terms of customization and fine-tuning specific features because intervening adjustments can easily lead to system instability, and there is a high likelihood that the built-in features are not compatible with this platform. Additionally, to customize the system based on the available feature set, businesses may encounter significant difficulties and time-consuming efforts.

Magento – The best all-around platform for the wine industry

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform known as one of the leading eCommerce platforms today, with many outstanding advantages such as high flexibility, a diverse ecosystem, and optimal security. Currently, Magento has two versions: Magento Open Source (free) and Magento Commerce (paid).

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

With the Magento open-source eCommerce platform, businesses may not have access to an extensive theme library as other eCommerce platforms do. However, businesses can fully customize the interface for a specialized eCommerce system, providing a comfortable user experience. To achieve this, businesses need an experienced technical team and careful investment.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

The Magento eCommerce platform offers a highly diverse and advanced feature system, from basic to advanced, making it easy for wine industry businesses to quickly build and develop their systems in the short term and sustainably in the long term.

• Basic features:

A variety of features ranging from Category Management, Content Management, Customer Management, Marketing Management, Order Management, Store Management, System Management, Cart and Checkout, to Reporting & Analytics.

• Advanced features:

Magento is known for its superiorly developed advanced features and extensions to meet the rapid development of the eCommerce market and the specialized requirements of each business. Thousands of advanced functions related to themes, products, marketing, optimal payment solutions, shipping, etc., have been built with flexibility and high availability, delivering outstanding results when integrated into the system, and meeting every operational and sustainable eCommerce development need of businesses.

• Specialized features:

Businesses can completely modify system functions, develop new specialized features to meet business needs, and quickly adapt to market changes. In addition, businesses can comfortably expand the scale of their business with the open-source Magento platform.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Software:

Regarding payments, wine industry businesses using the Magento eCommerce platform can integrate the most common payment methods such as card payments (ATM, Visa, Master…), e-wallets (Momo, Zalo Pay…), and payment gateways (OnePay, VNPay, PayPal, etc.), helping diversify the shopping payment experience.

For shipping, businesses can easily integrate with various shipping providers and popular shipment tracking applications on the market to optimize shipping and delivery processes. Additionally, wine industry businesses can develop shipping and delivery features tailored to their needs and customers to provide a convenient and fast delivery experience.

• Business Management Software:

Magento is praised for its highly effective operation with most POS (Square…), CRM (Salesforce…), and ERP (SAP, Oracle, Odoo) systems. Through efficient integration of these software solutions, businesses can overcome manual operation limitations and increase automation for both back-office management and sales, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for sustainable development.

• Marketing Management Software:

For marketing management software, businesses can integrate various management software solutions, including email marketing (Mailchimp…), and advertising (Facebook, Google…), to support planning marketing programs, strategy setting, as well as handling and controlling data, seamless eCommerce business processes, and optimizing online business.

Additionally, Magento provides Magento BI tools or allows businesses to integrate with other Business Intelligence (BI) tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Looker, etc., to optimize business efficiency, easily consolidate and leverage data from the Magento system and other software for quick, efficient analysis and reporting, and to improve business strategy and growth optimization for the enterprise.

Criteria for scalability

Inheriting the high scalability of the open-source platform, Magento can accompany businesses with every sustainable development business model, from newly established enterprises to expanded business systems, covering various business models such as B2B, B2C, D2C, and B2B2C.

Magento can support businesses to operate and expand into multiple websites, countries, and multiple currencies, and manage all within one system. Not only that, Magento also supports stable system operation even when the website experiences gradual or sudden increases in traffic over time or during peak periods in promotional campaigns, with the ability to handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions per hour.

Cost

Magento is an ideal platform for any business venturing into the wine industry and implementing eCommerce. However, the cost issue is a significant obstacle, preventing most small and medium-sized wine businesses from choosing the Magento platform to build an eCommerce system.

According to estimates, a fully functional system developed on the Magento eCommerce platform typically incurs deployment and development costs ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. In addition to the complex and advanced feature set, a crucial factor contributing to the higher deployment costs of Magento compared to other platforms is the requirement for an experienced and specialized team.

User Target

Magento is often the platform of choice for large businesses in the wine industry, whether B2B, B2C, or D2C, that already have an existing customer base and a long-term need for developing an eCommerce system. With this platform, businesses can continually develop components within the eCommerce system to ensure optimal operational efficiency and sustainable growth.

The high development costs, as well as the development timeline, which can range from 2-3 months to sometimes up to a year, are barriers that make it challenging for small and medium-sized businesses to comfortably choose Magento.

Choosing an eCommerce Platform for the Wine Industry

Choosing the right eCommerce platform is crucial in building an eCommerce system for businesses in the wine industry. This decision not only minimizes investment costs and shortens the time to build an eCommerce system but also helps businesses gain a competitive advantage in the industry and achieve sustainable growth.

On the other hand, an inappropriate platform choice can lead to significant time and cost investments for migration and platform conversion. Therefore, businesses need to consider their goals, and issues in the current model to choose the most suitable platform.

For small and medium-sized businesses, newcomers to the eCommerce market, or large businesses without the need to build a specialized eCommerce system, they can choose Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce platforms such as VineSpring, Winedirect, Shopify, or the open-source platform WooCommerce.

If businesses focus on industry-specific features such as developing a subscription revenue model and managing wine clubs, VineSpring and Wine Direct are suitable choices. WooCommerce is convenient for businesses that emphasize adjusting the interface. Shopify is suitable for businesses that want to quickly develop an eCommerce website with low initial costs.

For large businesses or those wanting to build a specialized eCommerce system tailored to the characteristics of their products, business model, or a platform that can accompany the sustainable development of the business, choosing comprehensive open-source platforms like Magento is necessary. With open-source platforms like Magento, businesses can develop special features, design interfaces freely, and not worry too much about the operating system.

SECOMM confidently accompanies wine businesses on the path of deploying and developing sustainable eCommerce, with successful implementation experience for many wine businesses in various countries such as Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan, and Vietnam. 

Contact SECOMM for detailed advice on the development journey of the eCommerce system for your wine business!

In 2022, the mobile phone retail market is predicted to reach sales figures of up to 1.39 billion units, marking a 3.8% annual increase (according to Trendforce). The Covid pandemic has significantly altered consumer interactions and shopping habits, shifting the purchase of mobile phones from offline to online. Traditional retailers have now caught up with this trend by embracing eCommerce to enhance their competitive edge and sustain growth regardless of the pandemic.

To enter the eCommerce market and seize competitive opportunities, businesses need to identify a suitable eCommerce platform aligned with their business objectives. Apart from popular names like Shopify, BigCommerce, Haravan, and WooCommerce, Magento is recognized as a platform chosen by major players in the mobile phone retail industry in Vietnam, such as CellphoneS, Phong Vũ, and Bạch Long Mobile. So, why is Magento the preferred choice for these businesses?

Advantages of Building a Mobile Phone Retail Website with Magento

Advantages of Building a Mobile Phone Retail Website with Magento

eCommerce Feature System from Basic to Advanced

Basic Features

As a specialized eCommerce platform, Magento naturally offers a full range of basic features such as category management, content management, sales, customer management, marketing, inventory management, as well as reports and analysis. These features allow businesses to easily embark on their eCommerce journey in a short period. 

Magento also possesses an ecosystem with many features supporting the development of in-depth mobile phone business systems.

• Category Management: Manage, develop, and control all data and functions related to products, attributes (brand, price, type of phone, performance, memory, special features, design, screen, size, etc.), pricing system, inventory, images, and videos to maintain efficient business operations.
• Content Management: Develop and refine necessary content and detailed information about products, such as place of origin, brand, instructional videos, and product reviews.
• Marketing Management: Deploy and manage various marketing campaigns according to seasons (Tet, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Flash Sale), and special occasions (launch of new products by Samsung, Apple, Oppo, etc.). These marketing campaigns need to be continuously updated as the product lifecycle shortens, and mobile phone products are constantly innovated.
• Sales Management: Easily set up and operate proactive sales processes through various methods such as barcode sales, item code sales, and brand-based sales (iPhone, Samsung, etc.). Businesses can also integrate customer management to ensure timely warranty service for purchased products.
• Customer Management: Manage comprehensive information about customers to improve marketing efficiency, enhance the shopping experience, and elevate customer satisfaction. This information helps create suitable customer care policies, such as value-added order discounts and gift appreciation for loyal customers, turning ordinary customers into loyal ones.
• Inventory Management: Proactively control the number of phones in each warehouse (by product group, brand, item code, and country of origin), making it easy to supply accurate and fast goods.
• System Management: Administers administrative privileges, uses tools for regular management, and maintenance, and supports the system to operate stably and efficiently.
• Reporting & Analytics: Effectively analyze data after marketing campaigns or accumulate sales data day by day through comprehensive and detailed reporting features to improve and enhance business efficiency. Includes Marketing Reports, Sales Reports, Customer Reports, Product Reports, Review Reports, and Performance Reports.

Advanced Features

The Magento platform is known for its advanced features and extensive extensions developed to meet the rapid development of the eCommerce market and the specific requirements of each business. Thousands of advanced functions related to themes, add-ons, products, marketing, payment, shipping, etc., have been built with flexibility and high availability, delivering outstanding results when integrated into systems, meeting every operational need, and supporting the sustainable development of eCommerce for businesses.

Some advanced features for mobile phone retail that Magento supports include:

Flash Sale Feature: a discount mechanism for certain items or products within a specified time. The strategy of appealing to the customer’s psychology of “buy quickly, get a good price” is being effectively applied by many major mobile phone retailers. With Magento, businesses can easily create multiple Flash sales with countdown timers.

Buy Now Pay Later Feature: This is a popular payment method in the international online mobile phone retail industry but is relatively new in the Vietnamese market. After completing the order, customers will receive the product immediately, and the payment will be gradually made over a certain period with low or 0% interest. Breaking down the payment into instalments will reduce financial pressure on users when buying high-value products such as mobile phones, boosting the number of orders and revenue for businesses.

Advanced SEO Feature: In addition to supporting keywords, meta tags, descriptions, product titles, and searching for appropriate URLs, the Magento platform also updates ranking factors, provides URL structures, and offers meta deployment options to enhance SEO for eCommerce websites, increasing traffic and competitiveness in the market.

Flexibility in Interface Design

Mobile eCommerce is one of the industries that require an eCommerce website to have a sleek, standardized UI/UX interface with high aesthetics to convey brand and product values, attracting customers to shop within the system.  Although Magento does not possess an extensive theme repository like some other platforms, each theme on the platform is meticulously and uniquely designed. 

Businesses can choose to use these themes in the initial stages to save costs. To further refine the interface to better align with the brand’s positioning, businesses can customize based on the chosen theme or design a unique interface. However, this process will require more investment in terms of cost and time.

High Scalability

Magento supports stable system operation even when the website experiences a gradual increase in traffic over time or a sudden surge during business campaigns, with the capability to handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions within an hour.

Furthermore, Magento also supports business expansion into multiple websites for various countries, all manageable on the same “dashboard.” This means that businesses can access and manage data for multiple websites/stores simultaneously using a centralized Magento system. With built-in language conversion support, businesses can build an eCommerce system with content and language tailored to diverse global customer demographics.

Moreover, the Magento system allows for easy conversion of currencies, supporting businesses in expanding their market presence across multiple countries and providing customers with a seamless transaction experience for optimal shopping.

Easy Integration Capability

Diverse Payment and Delivery Integration

In the eCommerce industry, especially in online mobile retail, having a variety of secure and flexible payment methods is crucial. Common payment methods include card payments (ATM, Visa, Mastercard), e-wallets (Momo, Zalo Pay), payment gateways (OnePay, VNPay, PayPal), cash on delivery (COD), etc. For delivery, Magento seamlessly integrates with various delivery services available both internationally and in Vietnam, such as FedEx, DHL, Giao Hàng Nhanh, Giao Hàng Tiết Kiệm, Viettel Post, along with popular shipment tracking applications. This ensures efficient handling and optimization of delivery processes. Furthermore, businesses can develop and customize new delivery features to align with customer preferences.

Integration with Enterprise Management Systems

Aside from stable system operation during online business, efficiently managing products and orders is a crucial consideration for businesses. Integrating the website with enterprise management systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) minimizes manual operations and automates operational processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for business development. Magento is highly compatible with various management software, such as POS (Square), CRM (Salesforce), and ERP (SAP, Oracle, Odoo), making it a preferred choice for many businesses.

Integration with Marketing Software

One of the challenges in online mobile retail is intense competition, making it difficult to attract customers and climb the ranks on search engines. Magento can be seamlessly integrated with various marketing management software, ranging from email marketing tools (Mailchimp) to advertising platforms (Facebook, Google). Having a unified system for all sales channels on Magento enables businesses to easily control and leverage data, seamlessly transitioning business processes from offline to online. Consequently, businesses can develop and manage corresponding multichannel marketing strategies to personalize the customer experience and optimize eCommerce business.

Challenges in Implementing eCommerce on the Magento Platform

High Development Costs

Despite Magento being highly rated for its eCommerce features and performance, cost remains a significant barrier, preventing businesses from choosing the Magento platform for building e-commerce websites. It is estimated that a well-developed and efficient system on the open-source Magento e-commerce platform typically incurs deployment costs ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 USD.

Usage Cost Table for the First Year of Three Magento Versions:

• Magento Community: Free
• Magento Enterprise: $22,000 – $125,000
• Magento Enterprise Cloud: $40,000 – $190,000

Extended Development Time

Typically, a complete Magento project requires an implementation time frame of 3-6 months, sometimes extending up to a year. One reason for the prolonged development time is the complexity of the system’s functionality, demanding time to build suitable development solutions.

Need for an Experienced Specialized Team

A fully functional and effective Magento website needs to be developed by an experienced team well-versed in Magento to build a comprehensive system and provide suitable solutions for the various long-term business requirements.

In summary, Magento is a comprehensive open-source eCommerce platform, specialized and suitable for various business models in the mobile electronic industry, including B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and D2C. Online mobile retail businesses can fully customize and control the system, from interface to features, providing the best experience for consumers through rich eCommerce features, a diverse ecosystem, and high flexibility and scalability. 

However, budgetary constraints, time considerations, and the requirement for a highly skilled team also make it challenging for many businesses to utilize Magento for deploying eCommerce websites. 

Contact SECOMM for a free consultation on developing an eCommerce system for mobile retail!

In recent times, eCommerce has been increasingly popular in the Vietnamese market and is becoming a potential business model pursued by many enterprises across various industries. Particularly in the mobile phone retail sector, the online market share of mobile phone retail systems is growing rapidly. For instance, The Gioi Di Dong – the largest mobile phone retail system in Vietnam, saw its online market share increase from 11.6% to 17.5% in just one month (from July to August 2021)

Nowadays, many mobile phone retail businesses in Vietnam often choose to implement eCommerce websites as their main channel in online commerce. Thanks to the effective development of website systems, many mobile phone retail businesses have not only seized the opportunity to boost revenue but also achieved sustainable business growth. The common factor contributing to this success lies in the eCommerce platform.

Each type of eCommerce platform has its unique features that can support businesses in developing their online presence. Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms are designed by providers with the entire system pre-built, including hosting, interface, features, and infrastructure maintenance. Therefore, businesses can easily build and operate a website system without much concern for technical issues and without investing too much time and money from the outset.

However, businesses using SaaS platforms will not own the source code and data, and the system’s scalability and integration capabilities are limited. Usage costs may increase over time. On the other hand, open-source platforms give businesses full ownership and control over the source code and data, allowing freedom in designing interfaces and offering high scalability and flexibility. Nevertheless, using open-source platforms often requires a specialized development team and more investment in terms of cost and time.

So, which eCommerce platform will be suitable for mobile phone retail businesses?

The criteria for choosing a platform

User interface and administrative interface

The user interface of an eCommerce system is considered the face and highest scoring aspect in online business. Therefore, besides meeting UI/UX standards and expressing the brand’s characteristics, products, businesses also need to focus on the presentation of product images on the website, ensuring synchronization and clarity. 

This ensures a complete and satisfying experience for customers.  The admin interface must be user-friendly, allowing easy navigation, control, and management of all data within the system.

A diverse range of eCommerce system features 

With online retail of mobile phones, the eCommerce system’s feature set needs to be diverse, ranging from basic to advanced and specialized, aiming to provide an optimal experience for buyers and facilitate the efficient and sustainable development of the eCommerce system.

Some essential functions in the eCommerce website system for mobile phone retail businesses include:

• Basic Functions: Meeting the most basic operational needs of the eCommerce system, such as order management, categories, content, marketing management, customer management, inventory, system management, reporting, checkout, payment, shipping, etc.
• Advanced Functions: Enhancing the consumer experience and expediting the shopping process with features like order tracking, abandoned cart recovery, product suggestions, quick product search, layered product categories, etc.
• Specialized Functions: Addressing specific challenges in implementing eCommerce for mobile phone retail, catering to the unique needs of customer segments and businesses. Examples include Flash sale programs, instalment plans, buy now pay later options, etc.

High integration capability

To have a seamless online business system, businesses often need to integrate eCommerce platforms with other software and technology platforms they are currently using, such as:

• Payment Integration: Integrating various payment methods from domestic to international cards, payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, OnePay), e-wallets (Momo, ZaloPay), etc.
• Shipping Integration: Integrating international shipping providers (DHL Express, FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.) and local ones in Vietnam (Giao Hang Nhanh, Giao Hang Tiet Kiem, Ninja Van, etc.). Additionally, order-tracking applications help streamline and operate shipping processes.
• Management Software: Easily integrating CRM, ERP, and POS software for seamless connectivity across all supply channels from offline to online.
• Marketing Management: Integrating additional marketing tools such as email marketing software (MailChimp, Drip…), marketing analytics software (Google Analytics, Google Adwords Keywords…), and social media management software (Buffer, Hootsuite…). Integrating these marketing management tools can help businesses implement marketing campaigns, attract customers, and increase conversion rates to maximize both eCommerce and overall business revenue.

The chosen eCommerce platform must have flexible, seamless, and effective integration capabilities with this software without affecting the execution level of each system. This integration helps businesses overcome the limitations of manual operation and increases automation for both back-office management and sales, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for business development.

High scalability capability

eCommerce platforms need to have high scalability to adapt and grow alongside businesses of all models. Choosing the right platform can accompany businesses from startup and SME stages to becoming large enterprises, and from B2B, B2C, and D2C models to B2B2C, helping save long-term budget while still building a sustainable, efficient system suitable for the business.

High scalability meets all future development needs of the business, such as expanding multiple websites, across countries, currencies, channels, etc. Moreover, platforms with high scalability ensure stable system operation regardless of increasing traffic and transactions over time.

Review 5 eCommerce platforms for mobile phone retail websites 

Shopify

Shopify is a well-known giant in the field of building eCommerce systems as a Software as a Service (SaaS). This platform is favoured for its user-friendly nature, quick build time, and low initial costs, making it suitable for many SMEs.

User Interface Criteria

Shopify provides attractive, responsive themes suitable for various industries, including mobile phone retail. While adhering to UI/UX standards, it lacks customization options for businesses to showcase their unique branding.

Admin Interface Criteria

The admin interface is user-friendly on desktops, allowing easy management of the website’s aspects. However, mobile functionality is limited, restricting businesses to perform specific functions on the mobile version.

Functionality System Criteria

Shopify’s functionality system is comprehensive, meeting both the basic and advanced needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. However, accessing advanced features requires additional monthly payments, leading to increasing usage costs. Shopify, however, lacks certain features crucial for mobile phone retail, aside from instalment payment options.

Integration Capability Criteria

Shopify restricts access to the source code, making integration with third-party software challenging. Businesses can only integrate with partner software available on the platform or those directly developed by Shopify.

Scalability Criteria

Scalability on the Shopify platform is limited because businesses cannot modify or upgrade the website source code. Therefore, it’s often used by mobile phone retail businesses in their early stages.

Usage Cost Criteria

Shopify offers various service packages to cater to different business needs, ranging from $29/month for Basic Shopify to $2000/month for Shopify Plus. However, businesses may face limitations in advanced features, necessitating a platform switch for a specialized and sustainable system.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 2/5

Shopify is suitable for SMEs that want a cost-effective and quick eCommerce system. However, it falls short in advanced features, specific functionalities, and customization options. Businesses must accept the limitations and be prepared to switch platforms for a tailored and sustainable solution in the future.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source CMS plugin for WordPress introduced in 2011, completely free, enabling businesses to turn their WordPress websites into online stores.

User Interface Criteria

WooCommerce offers a diverse library of templates for mobile phone retail and electronic goods, designed meticulously and user-friendly. This allows businesses to conveniently design and build an eCommerce system from the start without requiring in-depth technical knowledge.

Because WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, administrators continue to manage the website through the WordPress interface, making it easy for businesses already using WordPress to adapt, use, and navigate the system.

Functionality System Criteria

WooCommerce has many features, both basic and advanced, to support businesses in operating an eCommerce website. However, the platform has some limitations regarding specific features for mobile phone retail. Although it’s open-source, developing unique features on WooCommerce can be challenging and may lead to system instability.

Integration Capability Criteria

Third-party software integrates well with WooCommerce, helping businesses save time, and costs, improve operational efficiency, and automate management processes.

• Payment: Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Square…
• Shipping: USPS, UPS, and FedEx…
• Management Software: Odoo, Square POS, and WP ERP.
• Marketing Management: Google Listings, Google Ads, Facebook Pixel…

Scalability Criteria

WooCommerce’s most significant drawback is its limited scalability. The platform tends to become unstable and easily overloaded when there are more than 2,000 SKUs or too many themes and plugins on the system.

Usage Cost Criteria

WooCommerce is an open-source platform, so it’s entirely free to use. However, businesses need to pay for additional services such as domain registration ($15), hosting fees ($120/year), and system development costs (ranging from $3,000 to $10,000, depending on system complexity).

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

WooCommerce is a good platform for businesses currently using WordPress and looking to develop an eCommerce system. However, the platform has limitations in customization and adjusting unique features. Intervening in the system is likely to cause instability, and there is a high probability that the built-in features are not compatible with the platform. Additionally, to customize the system based on the existing feature set, businesses will need to invest a significant budget and time.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a SaaS platform based in the USA with over 600,000 online stores used by consumers worldwide.

User Interface Criteria

BigCommerce possesses a diverse theme repository with over 160 templates, catering to various industries, including mobile phone retail and electronics. All these templates are designed following UI/UX standards, allowing for easy adjustments to fit the brand.

For the administrator interface, businesses can manage their stores on a real-time and easily trackable screen.

Functionality System Criteria

BigCommerce’s functionality is relatively comprehensive, meeting basic and advanced needs, as well as specific features for mobile phone retail businesses. However, since BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, businesses cannot modify the source code or develop additional features not already available on the platform. Businesses can only use the features provided by BigCommerce or those offered by the platform’s partners.

Some notable advanced and specific features available on BigCommerce suitable for mobile phone retail businesses include multi-currency support, advanced SEO, rating and review features, advanced reporting, and instalment payment capabilities.

Integration Capability Criteria

BigCommerce has a relatively high integration capability, allowing integration with many popular third-party software to support business operations.

Some software that can be integrated with BigCommerce includes various payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, ApplePay, Checkout), shipping solutions (ShipStation, Amazon Shipping, Easyship, Route), ERP systems (NetSuite ERP, Acumatica Cloud ERP), CRM (HubSpot, Revamp), and marketing tools (email marketing, social media integration).

Scalability Criteria

The system’s scalability depends on the BigCommerce service package that the business is using. The platform can support business expansion into new markets, multiple currencies, and languages. Additionally, BigCommerce can support stable system operations for businesses handling thousands of SKUs.

Usage Cost Criteria

BigCommerce currently supports three bundled solutions and one on-demand solution:

• Standard Plan: $29.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $50,000
• Plus Plan: $79.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $180,000
• Pro Plan: $299.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $400,000
• Enterprise Plan: for large enterprises, and the cost will be based on the online sales volume of the brand.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

BigCommerce is almost a comprehensive SaaS platform for businesses entering the mobile phone retail eCommerce journey. The platform can be suitable for various business models, including B2B, B2C, and B2B2C, depending on the chosen subscription package. However, the limitation of using this platform is that businesses are restricted in their ability to customize functions on the system, limited in annual revenue with each subscription tier, and unable to own the source code. 

Haravan

Haravan, founded in 2014, stands as one of the renowned platforms in the Vietnamese market, boasting over 50,000 businesses and consumer brands. It operates as a service platform modelled on Shopify.

User Interface Criteria

Similar to other SaaS platforms, Haravan boasts a diverse theme repository with over 400 templates, all designed following UX/UI standards. Beyond that, businesses can customize the interface to align with their distinctive brand identity. The admin interface, supporting the Vietnamese language, ensures a user-friendly experience for businesses.

Functionality System Criteria

Haravan offers a comprehensive set of both basic and advanced features, enabling businesses to swiftly establish an eCommerce website. The platform includes specific functionalities tailored for mobile phone retail, such as installment payment options. However, akin to Shopify and BigCommerce, businesses cannot develop additional features beyond what Haravan offers in its repository.

Integration Capability Criteria

Integration with third-party utilities outside Haravan’s ecosystem can be challenging, representing a significant limitation of service-type platforms. However, it does support integration with widely used services in Vietnam, including various payment methods (Momo, VNPay, ZaloPay, etc.), shipping services (Giao Hàng Nhanh, Viettel Post, DHL), and management tools (CRMViet, Teamcrop).

Scalability Criteria

Haravan’s scalability is limited; it supports multilingual and multi-currency features but lacks the capability to expand to multiple websites or efficiently manage extensive data on the platform.

Usage Cost Criteria

To use Haravan, businesses need to pay a reasonable monthly fee ranging from 200,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND, depending on business needs:

• Standard: 200,000 VND/month for individual sellers
• Pro: 600,000 VND/month for businesses wanting to implement Omnichannel
• Grow: 1,500,000 VND/month with the advantage of automating customer care and re-engagement programs
• Scale: 3,000,000 VND/month to build a loyal customer base.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

Haravan is a suitable platform for businesses in Vietnam with limited technology experience and budget constraints. However, as businesses grow, Haravan may not provide sufficient functionality to sustain operations. Eventually, transitioning to more specialized platforms like Magento, WooCommerce, or OpenCart becomes necessary, albeit with challenges such as costs, time, and human resources.

Magento

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform with deep expertise in online commerce. It currently offers two versions: Open Source (free) and Commerce (paid). Recognized as one of the most comprehensive eCommerce platforms, Magento boasts diverse features, high flexibility, scalability, a diverse ecosystem, and optimal security.

User Interface Criteria

Unlike other platforms, Magento doesn’t have an extensive theme repository. However, each theme is meticulously designed, unique, adheres to UX/UI standards, and emphasizes high aesthetics to convey brand and product values, attracting customers to the system.

Businesses can save costs and time by using available themes, while also having the option to customize for brand identity. Additionally, businesses can fully design their interface, enhancing brand recognition, though this requires careful investment in design time and costs.

For the admin interface, Magento 1 was criticized for being challenging to use. However, Magento 2 introduced a more intuitive dashboard, making navigation easier, user-friendly, and adaptable.

Functionality System Criteria

Magento’s eCommerce platform has a diverse and deep feature system, catering from basic to advanced and specific functions. This allows mobile phone retail businesses to easily and rapidly build and develop their system in the short and long term. Basic functions include Category Management, Content Management, Customer Management, Marketing Management, Order Management, Store Management, System Management, Cart and Checkout, and Reporting & Analysis.

Specialized features include support for multiple languages, currencies, stores, Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Multi-Source Inventory (MSI), ElasticSearch, etc., enhancing the customer experience and accelerating the shopping process.

Integration Capability Criteria

Magento excels in easy integration with third-party software for payments (credit cards, e-wallets, payment gateways, cash on delivery), shipping (Fedex, DHL, local carriers), management software (POS, CRM, ERP), and marketing tools (email marketing, advertising).

Scalability Criteria

Magento ensures stable system operation even with increasing traffic over time or sudden spikes in business campaigns. It can handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions within an hour. Magento supports the expansion of multiple websites for various countries, all manageable on one screen, allowing businesses to access and manage data for multiple websites/stores simultaneously.

Usage Cost Criteria

One significant limitation for mobile phone retailers opting for Magento is the high initial development cost. A fully functional Magento system development is estimated to range from $10,000 to $100,000. Beyond complex and advanced features, the need for an experienced professional team contributes to the higher implementation costs compared to other platforms.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria:  4/5

Magento is a comprehensive platform suitable for mobile phone retail businesses, whether B2B, B2C, or D2C, especially those with an existing customer base and a desire to develop a long-term eCommerce system. With Magento, businesses can continuously develop components of the eCommerce system, ensuring optimal performance and sustainable growth.

Choosing the right platform for eCommerce is crucial for mobile phone retailers. An accurate choice helps businesses shorten development time, save costs, and maximize resources to achieve the highest revenue levels. SECOMM understands the challenges facing mobile phone retail businesses and provides expert advice. 

Contact SECOMM now for a free consultation!

The retail market for mobile phones in Vietnam is booming like never before! With 61 million users, Vietnam is currently among the top 10 markets with the highest mobile phone usage in Asia. Furthermore, this market is predicted to grow in 2022 by 47.5% (according to Trendforce).

Taking advantage of this opportunity, many retail businesses in Vietnam have achieved tremendous success and continuously expanded their scale, such as The Gioi Di Dong, FPT Shop, Viettel Store, etc.

To contribute to this success, one cannot ignore e-commerce. Online sales channels such as websites, mobile apps, and e-commerce platforms play an increasingly important role for retail businesses in the mobile phone industry, especially post-pandemic.

According to Debasish Jana, an expert from the market research company Counterpoint Research, online sales of mobile phones have increased compared to the same period last year, accounting for 14% of the total market share. Not stopping there, the growth rate of online mobile phone retail is projected to increase even further shortly, reaching 29% by 2025 (according to Google, Temasek, Bain & Company).

E-commerce helps retail businesses develop their business models and contributes to revenue growth for enterprises.

The Gioi Di Dong

The Gioi Di Dong is a brand under the company The Gioi Di Dong Joint Stock Company, established in 2004. According to Euromonitor International, The Gioi Di Dong is the largest online retail company in Vietnam, holding a 10% market share. It is also the leading retail chain for mobile devices in Vietnam, with approximately 1,000 stores present in all 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

Currently, this retail business is heavily investing in online sales systems such as websites and apps.

• Website: https://www.thegioididong.com/  
• Website Traffic: 30.20M/mn

CellphoneS

CellphoneS is a retail system for well-known technology products in Vietnam. Currently, the business has a presence in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Thai Nguyen, and Vung Tau.

• Website: https://cellphones.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 9.08M/mn

FPT Shop

FPT Shop is under the ownership of FPT Corporation Vietnam, established in 2012. It is an officially authorized dealer of Apple in Vietnam at the highest level, specializing in providing genuine electronic products. Currently, the retail chain system spans across the country with stores in all 63 provinces and cities.

• Website: https://www.fptshop.com.vn
• Website Traffic: 5.933M/mn

Hoang Ha Mobile

Hoang Ha Mobile is a retail system specializing in providing genuine technology products and well-known mobile phones in Vietnam, established in 2014. Currently, the business has over 90 branches spanning from the North to the South.

• Website: https://www.hoanghamobile.com
• Website Traffic: 4.818M/mn

Di Dong Viet

The Mobile Technology Company Limited operates the Didongviet.vn retail chain, established in 2009 as a reputable system specializing in genuine technology products, notably mobile phones, tablets, laptops, accessories, and components.

• Website: https://www.didongviet.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.787M/mn

Viettel Store

Viettel Store was launched in 2009 with thousands of continuously updated products to meet the online shopping needs of customers nationwide. With over 200 stores, Viettel Store’s retail system provides a wide range of high-tech devices and products, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and medical equipment.

• Website: https://www.viettelstore.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.673M/mn

Sony Store

Sony is one of the most globally renowned brands in consumer electronics, thanks to its revolutionary innovations and product quality. After 21 years in Vietnam, Sony has established a retail system consisting of 11 Sony Shops and Sony Centers, over 160 official dealers, and 70 authorized service stations spread across the country.

• Website: https://www. store.sony.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.649M/mn

Phong Vu

Phong Vũ is known as a long-established and reputable retail unit in Vietnam since 2007, with over 30 stores nationwide. Specializing in the business of information technology products, gaming and entertainment devices, office equipment, and high-tech devices from various major brands.

• Website: https://www.phongvu.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.479M/mn

Mobile City

Mobile City is one of the popular retailers of smartphones, tablets, and technology accessories in Vietnam, with over 10 years of experience.

• Website: https://mobilecity.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.216M/mn

Clickbuy

Clickbuy is a retail system offering well-known technology products in Vietnam, established in 2012. Currently, Clickbuy has expanded to include 5 stores and 2 modern service centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

• Website: https://clickbuy.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.190M/mn

Developing E-commerce Solutions for the Mobile Phone Retail Industry

Online business in the mobile phone industry presents numerous growth opportunities. However, to succeed, businesses need a partner with extensive experience in the e-commerce landscape.

With a successful track record in implementing complex e-commerce systems, SECOMM understands the challenges that businesses face.

Contact us now for a free consultation on comprehensive e-commerce system development solutions!

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted shopping trends from traditional stores to online channels. Due to the pandemic, the demand for electronic products such as phones, laptops, and tablets has increased. This has helped mobile phone retail businesses achieve high revenue growth and profitability. 

The “leap” into e-commerce has opened up many opportunities for businesses to develop – opportunities to provide a fast and seamless shopping experience for customers, expand sales channels, increase revenue, and establish brand identity.

In this context, owning an e-commerce website is almost a prerequisite for starting a successful online business. An e-commerce website can support businesses in several ways:

• Maximize Revenue: Businesses can add sales channels to expand their business model, increase profits, and avoid limitations on time and space compared to traditional in-store sales.
• Cost Savings: It saves costs related to renting physical space and human resources, and especially reduces dependence on e-commerce platforms.
• Data Collection: Businesses can rely on customer journeys on the system to collect data, then analyze and leverage it to personalize the user experience.
• Enhance Competitive Ability: Utilizing and exploiting the strengths of an e-commerce website with a visually appealing and unique interface will make it easier for businesses to position their brand and attract customers.
• Brand Promotion: It increases trust, professionalism, and accessibility to potential customers.
• These factors highlight the importance of having an e-commerce website for businesses looking to thrive in the evolving market landscape influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related article: Top 10 retail websites for mobile phones in Vietnam

Though the benefits are plentiful, how can one design a comprehensive e-commerce website for a business professionally and effectively? 

Below is the journey to build a comprehensive e-commerce website for a mobile phone retail business with two main stages: (1) building the basic e-commerce website and (2) transitioning to building an in-depth e-commerce website.

Phase 1: Building the Basic Mobile Phone E-commerce Website

Define Objectives

The first step in constructing an e-commerce website is for the business to determine elements such as objectives, budget, and time for project development.

• Regarding Objectives: Businesses need to review and cross-reference all goals in the E-commerce Business Plan with the overall Business Plan to ensure the correct and effective implementation of E-commerce, assisting in organizing and prioritizing specific objectives in each development stage.
• Long-term objectives play a guiding role, providing a general framework for e-commerce and overall business development. These may include sustainable brand awareness, the brand’s market value, total revenue, etc.
• Short-term objectives help shape strategies with specific tasks and detailed outcomes corresponding to certain timeframes. These may include brand building, increased e-commerce revenue, enhanced competitive capabilities, product quality/diversity, service quality, etc.
• Regarding Timeframes: To ensure the correct execution of objectives, specific time milestones need to be planned with appropriate prioritization in each stage of the e-commerce journey. Once an overall development timeline is established, it becomes easier to determine the payback period and allocate the budget more effectively.
• Regarding Budget: Businesses can prioritize the implementation of essential components of the e-commerce system when the budget is limited, and later expand in subsequent stages. However, if there are sufficient financial resources, businesses can deploy a comprehensive business plan across departments and stages to enhance performance and achieve sustainable development.

After completing the “ideation” for the e-commerce website, businesses can kickstart the project by purchasing suitable hosting and domain names aligned with the products or services the business intends to offer.

Choosing an E-commerce Platform

Once the specific business strategy has been identified, the business needs to carefully consider choosing a platform for building the e-commerce website. Currently, the two most popular types of e-commerce platforms are Software as a Service (SaaS) and open-source platforms.

For SaaS Platforms

With SaaS platforms, businesses can choose from various pre-designed templates and features to build a website through simple drag-and-drop operations, requiring minimal investment in terms of time and development costs. However, with SaaS platforms, businesses do not own the source code and data; they can only utilize the available features of the platform. The flexibility and scalability of the system are limited, and usage costs may increase over time. Some popular SaaS platforms in Vietnam include Haravan, Shopify, Sapo, etc.

For Open-Source Platforms

With open-source platforms, businesses have complete freedom to design the interface according to their requirements. These platforms offer high flexibility and can be customized extensively. Open-source platforms provide a full range of features and additional utilities, supporting sustainable development. Businesses own all the source code and data. However, businesses will need a skilled in-house team or experienced development partners to accompany them, investing time and money in development. Some popular open-source platforms include Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart, etc.

Interface Design

Businesses can initiate the interface design for the website on the selected platform by using existing templates or themes available on the system. Alternatively, they can customize and design a unique interface that aligns with the brand image and specific preferences of the mobile phone retail industry.

Developing Basic E-commerce System Features

At this stage, the business collaborates with an in-house IT team or a deployment unit to establish fundamental eCommerce features, ensuring smooth sales processes on the system. On both SaaS and open-source platforms mentioned earlier, businesses can choose suitable functions and integrate them into the website. Some common basic features include:

• Category Management: Control over product data, functions, attributes, prices, inventory, images, and videos (brand, price, phone type, performance, memory, special features, design, screen, size, etc.).
• Content Management: Develop and optimize content for CMS pages (origin, brand, product reviews, usage guides in video form, and success stories relevant to business development needs). Store images, customize themes, and design the website.
• Sales Management: Control and operate sales processes, orders, barcode-based payments, and brand-based sales (iPhone, Samsung, etc.). Integration with customer management to ensure warranty times align with customer purchases. Set up payment methods (COD, card payments, e-wallets, payment gateways), and shipping methods.
• Marketing Management: Deploy and manage various marketing programs and campaigns based on seasons and events (Tet, Black Friday, Christmas, Flash Sales, etc.), especially during product launches by major companies like Samsung, Apple, and Oppo.
• Customer Management: Manage and collect customer information for personalized user experiences, post-purchase customer care, or collaborate with marketing campaigns to attract returning or potential customers.
• Inventory Management: Proactively control the number of available phones in stock (grouped by type, brand, product code, and country of origin).
• Reporting & Analysis: Exploit data and measure performance using tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixels, and Google Tag Manager.
• System Management: Maintain a secure and stable eCommerce system. Grant administrator permissions to manage and review the best security practices. Additionally, the platform may offer tools for regular management and maintenance to support stable system operations.

Fulfilling Legal Procedures with the Ministry of Industry and Trade

A mandatory criterion for the official operation of a business’s eCommerce website is the completion of legal documents following regulations. According to Decree 52/2013/ND-CP by the Government, individuals or organizations owning eCommerce websites for selling goods are required to notify or register with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the eCommerce Management Portal.

Businesses can either complete the registration process themselves or enlist the services of law firms that provide related services.

Phase 2: Developing a Comprehensive eCommerce System

Typically, a basic website may only support a business in its initial stages and face challenges as the business model evolves. Businesses gradually realize the need to develop a more specialized eCommerce system to enhance service quality and improve the overall experience for both customers and the business itself. The development of a sophisticated system requires businesses to be more prepared in terms of time and costs compared to the initial phase.

Redefining Objectives

Similar to developing a basic eCommerce system, the first step in developing a sophisticated e-commerce website is for the business to redefine its objectives, costs, and timelines for the project. It is crucial to explore specific features and advancements within the industry. This allows the business to plan a detailed and accurate development strategy that aligns with its business model.

Choosing a Platform for Transformation

To develop a deep eCommerce system, businesses should opt for open-source platforms such as Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart, etc. Open-source platforms can best meet the expanding system needs and sustain development alongside the business. However, besides the drawbacks of high development costs and an extended construction period, businesses also need an experienced IT team to effectively utilize these platforms.

Criteria for Platform Selection at This Stage:

• User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) Development

Allows the development of a standardised user interface that reflects the brand’s characteristics and showcases product images clearly and cohesively.

Enhances brand identity and differentiation.

The admin interface should be user-friendly, facilitating easy navigation, control, and management of the entire system’s data.

• Basic and Advanced Features

The system should support basic functions and be flexible enough to accommodate the development or integration of advanced and specific features.

This flexibility ensures stable business operations in the long term and the ability to adapt to evolving business models.

Seamless integration with other software without compromising the performance of individual systems.

• Scalability

High scalability to adapt and grow alongside the business, catering to various business models.

Cost-effective long-term budgeting while constructing a sustainable and efficient system suitable for the business.

The ability to expand, whether it’s adding multiple websites, operating in multiple countries, dealing with various currencies, or managing multiple channels.

• Extensibility

Ensures the system can efficiently meet the evolving needs of the business.

Can extend to multiple websites, support internationalisation, handle diverse currencies, and manage various sales channels.

Ensures stable system operation regardless of increasing web traffic and transaction volumes over time.

Choosing Development Resources for eCommerce Website Development

To build a sophisticated eCommerce website, businesses can either establish an in-house team or collaborate with external development partners. In both cases, a skilled and experienced workforce with a professional work ethic is essential.

In-House Team:

• Provides control and flexibility in managing daily tasks, timelines, and data.
• Allows the business to have direct oversight of its data and a clear understanding of product values.
• Challenges include limited manpower depending on the company’s size, restricted ideation due to internal expertise, and potential development limitations.

External Development Partners:

• Collaboration with eCommerce system development experts facilitates a smooth platform transition.
• Businesses don’t need to worry about the intricacies of the transition process as external developers offer optimal support.
• However, there might be a trade-off between having 100% control over the development process and the limitation of collaboration.

Recommended Service Providers: Several service providers specialize in deploying advanced eCommerce systems. Some notable examples include SECOMM, SmartOSC, Co-Well Asia, Isobar, and Magenest.

Choosing between an in-house team and external partners depends on the business’s specific needs, resources, and preferences. Each option has its advantages and challenges, and businesses must carefully evaluate their circumstances before making a decision.

Improving the Interface

While transitioning to a new eCommerce platform, businesses have the flexibility to retain their current website interface or redesign it for an enhanced user experience and improved brand positioning. Redesigning involves adjusting existing themes to save time and budget. However, some businesses opt for a custom redesign to meticulously tailor the interface to their specific needs, which may require a higher investment in terms of time and budget.

Platform Migration

Platform migration is a crucial step in building a deep eCommerce website. Automation is typically used to minimize errors during the transition. Businesses need a comprehensive plan encompassing features, data, and scenarios to ensure a smooth and effective transition. The process begins with data extraction from the old system and recording it into the new system.

Post-migration, thorough testing is essential to verify that all components and data have been accurately and adequately transferred according to the plan.

Developing Advanced and Specialized Features

When constructing a deep eCommerce website, businesses must introduce advanced and specialized features to support business model expansion, enhance competitiveness, adapt to market changes, increase revenue, and improve the shopping experience. Some advanced features for eCommerce and mobile retail may include Buy Now Pay Later, Flash Sales, and advanced product search functionalities.

Continuous learning and staying informed about necessary features are crucial for system development. This can be achieved through online applications, an in-house development team, or external development experts. After outlining the development plan, collaboration with design experts to create a system model is essential. The subsequent step involves programming features based on the approved plan. Before deployment, thorough testing, based on the requirements specification document, is conducted to update test scenarios and log errors using error management tools.

Operation, Maintenance, and Development of eCommerce Websites

After developing an eCommerce website, regular maintenance, care, and updates are necessary to ensure continuous online business operation, seamless system operation from online to offline, and optimal user satisfaction. Ongoing research is vital to optimize and develop the website to create a satisfying and comfortable shopping experience.

In summary, a comprehensive eCommerce website is crucial for the current and future success of mobile phone retail businesses. Building such a website involves a meticulous process, and each step is critical. Businesses can contact SECOMM for free consultations on comprehensive eCommerce website solutions tailored to mobile phone retail businesses.

Consumer demand for beauty and health care is rising as the quality of life gradually improves. The fact that so many individuals are involved in commerce has also contributed to the cosmetics industry’s reputation as one of the most important sectors in the modern economy.

Additionally, the rapid growth of eCommerce following the pandemic is gradually emerging as a successful business strategy and a crucial step in the digital transformation of every industry, including the cosmetics industry.

The market size for cosmetics sold online is estimated by CommonThread to be $483 billion in 2020 and expand to $511 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.75%. The market size is anticipated to surpass 716 billion USD by 2025 and reach 784.6 billion USD by 2027.

How do cosmetics firms benefit from eCommerce?

Keep up rapidly with the market shift

In the past pandemic years, the global economy has witnessed a sudden decline in sales in many industries, including the cosmetics industry.

People are compelled to reduce their social interactions while social distancing mechanisms are in effect.

At this time, people’s psychology will be more concerned with keeping an eye on and caring for themselves. Due to the unpredictable changes of the pandemic, there has been a sharp rise in the need for skincare, hair care, and body care products to enhance spiritual life.

Due to restrictions on leaving the house, online shopping at the time had become not only a need but also an urgent method of purchasing in place of in-person purchases. That serves as a springboard for eCommerce to take off and spur significant growth in other industries like fashion, grocery, wine, and even cosmetics.

These two elements highlight the enormous potential of this “cake,” assisting several cosmetic companies in realizing and swiftly implementing eCommerce for both sustainable development and market revolution.

Scale up the business

Using eCommerce as a solution will allow the cosmetics industry to shift from offline to online (O2O) business models rather than allowing their businesses to “get lost” in the crisis of the global pandemic.

Additionally, if businesses still do not have a competent eCommerce website to introduce and sell products to customers who love to shop online ​​in the age of digital transformation, they will quickly lose many potential customers to rivals.

This is especially true for a highly competitive industry like cosmetics, but several firms, including Hasaki, LixiBox, Watsons, Guardian, etc., have embraced the trend early and are now the market leaders in cosmetic eCommerce.

Furthermore, early eCommerce development will also provide benefits that will make marketing efforts more successful, broadening the economic opportunities for businesses.

Enhance customer’s shopping experience

​​Businesses must consider customers’ purchasing experiences when launching eCommerce websites, and not just for the cosmetic industry.

Thanks to the use of contemporary technologies, which are quite popular in the cosmetics industry, the purchasing procedure will be swift, and effective, and bring customers satisfaction when they choose to buy cosmetics online.

For example, a 360-degree intuitive vision, virtual reality (VR), or augmented reality (AR) technology (AR).

eCommerce enables businesses to quickly and effortlessly tailor the experience for customers by gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing the consumption behavior of each target group. Typically, this is done with the capabilities listed below: Products have seen, similar product recommendations, etc.
eCommerce provides clients with a seamless experience in addition to an intuitive one across a variety of channels, including social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Zalo, etc.), eCommerce platforms (Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo, etc.), eCommerce websites, mobile apps, etc.

Best cosmetics eCommerce sites that really stand out

Kylie Cosmetics

One of the most successful cosmetic brands that has a significant global media impact is Kylie Cosmetics. When it comes to Kylie Cosmetics, it’s tough not to give Kylie Jenner credit.

She’s the youngest female millionaire in the US and has been hailed as a business genius by prominent publications like Forbes due to her success in the saturated cosmetics industry.

​​When Kylie Cosmetics was founded in 2015, it generated an astonishing $ 420 million in revenue in its first 18 months. It is predicted that by 2022, net sales will have reached $ 1 billion.

The sensible business strategy, in addition to the founder’s reputation, focuses on utilizing the “gold mine” of eCommerce and launching social media marketing campaigns, which are the factors that contribute to that respectable revenue block.

As a result, the company used Shopify, a platform that specializes in creating websites for the top online retailers in North America, to develop its eCommerce website.

With pink and white as its primary colors, the website’s design is incredibly clean and uncomplicated. The layout of the website centers on showcasing the company’s products.

Also, this is a part of Kylie Cosmetics’ business strategy, which includes releasing collections of cosmetic products like lipsticks, eyeshadow, and eyebrow pencils with limited design and manufacturing to appeal to customers’ FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

It is not surprising that Kylie’s new collections or cosmetics Cosmetics are continually “sold out” every time it is published because this is thought to be a very intelligent strategy of Kylie Cosmetics, completely different from other well-known cosmetic firms.

The business also utilizes social media platforms that are hugely popular in the US, like Instagram, Youtube, and Snapchat, to create content to market brands and products and engage with a huge audience across three platforms before driving traffic to the eCommerce website and generating conversions.

The company’s inventiveness and innovation are also on display in offline events that draw customers to free product samples. Here, the company wins over even customers who have reservations about the product’s quality, which greatly increases sales.

Since Kylie Cosmetics established its first traditional cosmetic retail store in 2018, customers may now purchase cosmetics from this cult brand at Ulta Beauty locations around the US.

Indeed, Kylie Cosmetics started off quite shrewdly and went on to tremendous success by keeping up with market changes by building an online business model at first, that is, selling through an eCommerce website and relying primarily on social media for promotion.

Guardian

Since entering the Vietnamese market in 2011, Guardian has grown to be a very well-known and recognizable brand among consumers of cosmetics. This brand is a part of the Dairy Farm Group, a company that manufactures and distributes health and beauty products in Asia.

Since its start, Guardian has made ongoing improvements to encourage millions of followers to lead healthy lifestyles and offer a trustworthy, high-quality purchasing experience at the finest rates and services.

With a system of more than 100 outlets “encompassing everywhere,” this retail chain is delighted to be a place to shop for cosmetics “for everyone” who can “purchase everything” and simply select appropriate items.

A clever business strategy and significant investment in successful marketing efforts are the only explanations needed to understand Guardian’s success.

When first entering the Vietnamese market, Guardian specifically pushed to quickly expand its business chain, focusing on cities with high purchasing power, with 80% of stores located in Ho Chi Minh City, the rest in Hanoi and some other major cities such as Da Nang, Can Tho, Bien Hoa, and Vung Tau.

Because at the time, online channels were not really well-known and powerful enough for this business to keep an eye on.

As a result, the company successfully raises the level of brand recognition with extensive coverage from the Guardian orange white wave, taking into account the characteristics of the cosmetics and beauty care industry, which require customers to have a direct point of contact, learn from, and test.
By 2019, the company began its journey toward digital transformation by combining offline and online (O2O) business models in parallel, and simultaneously, deploying Omnichannel.

It is even more critical for Guardian to immediately implement potential sales channels like marketplaces, applications, fast delivery services like GrabMart, and eCommerce website operate side by side with a chain of 105 retail outlets in strategic locations due to the pandemic’s dual effects, which include changing market trends and altering consumer buying habits.

The orange and white colors and quick page loads make the Guardian website’s design stunning. Additionally, Guardian offers enticing incentives in the shipping policy, such as free fast delivery within 4 hours with orders from 349,000 VND, to encourage online shoppers.

The company’s unique product catalog, which is prominently shown on Guardian’s eCommerce website and features items like shampoos, shower gels, and hand sanitizers, is another standout.

The foundation for helping Guardian dominate the cosmetic retail market and leave a lasting impact on customers is a deliberate investment in developing a multi-channel ecosystem.

Hasaki

​​Modernity and growth come with invisible pressures that have an impact on everyone’s life as people struggle to keep up with the “standards” of the times.

However, that does not result in a drop in the demand for beauty and self-care, on the contrary, it is always rising, with a diversity of sufficient options to match customer expectations.

Vietnamese women are among the most beautiful in Asia, but, due to the responsibilities of work pressure and family, they occasionally neglect to care for and love themselves.

Because of this, Hasaki Beauty & Clinic was established with the desire to become a reliable beauty and spiritual care destination for Vietnamese women.

The Hasaki store system, which was introduced in 2016 and now has 76 locations across 29 Vietnamese provinces and cities, has steadily established itself as one of the top retail chains for real cosmetics. Hasaki is dedicated to offering real cosmetics at discounted pricing, living up to its motto of “True Quality – True Value”.

Along with system expansion, Hasaki also works on creating an eCommerce website with features appropriate for the cosmetics industry and always enhancing and upgrading the system to provide customers with the greatest online shopping experience.

The Magento platform was used to build the website, and the interface is attractive with green serving as the primary color tone for the entire eCommerce website and app system. Customers can check current promotions and conveniently look up order details when accessing the Hasaki website.

Additionally, the “handbook” section at Hasaki has a wealth of knowledge on cosmetics and skin care tips that each customer may learn and arm themselves with before making a purchase decision. Since then, the process of beauty restoration is safe and effective.

Similar to Guardian, Hasaki encourages people to order online with NowFree 2h and take advantage of free shipping rules.

As a result, Hasaki will provide free delivery to customers within two hours of receiving orders of 90,000 VND in 29 provinces and cities where the company has locations, including on Saturday and Sunday. Customers will benefit from free national shipping on orders that are at least 249,000 VND.

Therefore, Hasaki has sparked a “green craze” among many beauty fans and is now gradually competing with the country’s top cosmetics brands thanks to its quick recognition of market trends and broad perspective with an efficient marketing mix strategy.

It is clear that the growth of the furniture market has been hastened by the speed at which eCommerce is developing.

Today, numerous local and international cosmetics companies participate in and offer the greatest shopping experiences to customers through the effective implementation of an eCommerce website, including Kylie Cosmetics (USA), Guardian, and Hasaki (Vietnam).

From there, companies may quickly connect with a wider pool of Internet users and generate conversions through efficient marketing strategies.

However, business leaders need to carefully and comprehensively take into account the growing customer expectations and rapidly shifting market trends, not to mention specifically describe a systematic and precise business strategy for taking the most advantageous actions in the short and long term.

Completing that difficult task will take a lot of time and resources. As a result, many cosmetics companies opt for a more straightforward approach to the issue, enlisting the assistance of a highly qualified and dependable unit.

SECOMM has many years of expertise in effectively executing eCommerce for numerous customers in various countries. We specialize in offering free consultation services with qualified eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact us right away for free counsel and assistance.

Exporting and trading internationally has become challenging due to the Covid-19 epidemic. In order to increase sales and find online customers, numerous companies in several industries, including the cosmetics industry, have used eCommerce.

Additionally, to support eCommerce activities and achieve the objective of growth and scalability, cosmetic retailers shift from traditional business practices to keep up with the general development trend of the global economy.

In Vietnam alone, a handful of cosmetic firms in Vietnam have demonstrated extraordinary flexibility and agility in reacting to market adjustments “despite” the complicated changes brought on by the global pandemic.

The following brands have gained the trust of and made a lasting impression on cosmetic customers by creating professional and insightful eCommerce websites.

Hasaki

Hasaki, a company founded in April 2016 to provide full health and beauty care for Vietnamese people, has developed secure and quick online shopping experiences with a choice of high-quality cosmetic items from many of the world’s leading brands in today’s market.

Hasaki’s eCommerce website was invested in and methodically developed from the start with the open-source platform – Magento – in order to deliver clients satisfaction in terms of comfort and efficiency when purchasing online.

More than 7 million visitors per month of traffic at a very high level demonstrate the wisdom of Hasaki’s eCommerce investment. This company’s expansion of its distribution network increased market penetration, and identification and diversification of the target customer were all made possible by sensible strategy.

• Website: https://hasaki.vn/
• eCommerce platform: Magento
• Traffic: 7.244m/month
• Ranking: 514 (Vietnam); 26,288 (Global)

The Gioi Skin Food

The Gioi Skin Food is another well-known eCommerce site with over 2 million monthly visitors that focuses on selling cosmetics. This business worked with Haravan to create an effective eCommerce website with an easy-to-use interface.

The Gioi Skin Food has up now employed eCommerce in addition to the conventional retail shop method, which has been incredibly successful. This would enable the business to catch up with the online-to-offline (O2O) trend and raise brand awareness and revenue.

• Website: https://thegioiskinfood.com/
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 2.285M/month
• Ranking: 1,670 (Vietnam); 84,473 (Global)

Watsons Vietnam

The Watsons Group, Asia’s top retail organization for health and beauty products, owns the Watsons Vietnam brand. The company desires to provide Vietnamese customers with the finest shopping experience possible while also bringing them high-quality products that are appropriate for their needs.

Notably, Watsons adopted the O2O business model right away after entering the Vietnamese market. With the goal of dominating the market, Watsons Vietnam invests in developing an eCommerce website with SAP Commerce Cloud in addition to the store system dispersed throughout the neighbourhoods of Ho Chi Minh City.

Additionally, the user-friendly and aesthetically designed interface contributes to the website’s amazing monthly visitation of more than 1 million.

• Website: https://www.watsons.vn/
• eCommerce platform: SAP Commerce Cloud
• Traffic: 1.267M/month
• Ranking: 2,715 (Vietnam); 129,769 (Global)

The Gioi Son Moi

The Gioi Son Moi is one of the places where people go to get lipstick that is well-known and reputable because of the guaranteed product quality and the courteousness of the staff. Every day, new products are added to the site, ensuring that there is always enough supply of well-known companies’ lipstick lines in the right hues at competitive rates.

The Gioi Son Moi also swiftly launched an eCommerce website to join the common playground of the cosmetic retail sector, in addition to two physical locations in HCMC that are constantly being renovated, extending the amount of shopping space. As a result, the website is built on the Haravan platform and has a straightforward interface that is nonetheless opulent and complex.

Also, the extremely high monthly traffic volume (more than 1 million) also demonstrates the company’s successful business strategy in the context of the market’s innovation trend.

• Website: https://thegioisonmoi.com/
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 1.103M/month
• Ranking: 3,582 (Vietnam); 156,691 (Global)

Bo Shop

Beauty lovers in HCMC can’t help but be aware of Bo Shop, a company that provides a broad range of high-quality cosmetics, from skincare to makeup, at rates that are specifically stated to fulfil customers’ demands for all types of beauty care.

The company quickly creates an eCommerce website using WooCommerce to keep up with contemporary business trends in order to become the top cosmetic retail brand in Vietnam.

• Website: https://www.boshop.vn/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 1.020M/month
• Ranking: 5,030 (Vietnam); 234,462 (Global)

Guardian

For many years, Vietnamese consumers of cosmetics have been familiar with the name Guardian. This is a brand from the Dairy Farm Group that manufactures and distributes well-known health and beauty care goods all over Asia. In Vietnam, where Guardian first opened in 2011, the company now has more than 100 outlets.

In 2019, the business started its transformational path and parallel fusion of offline and internet business models. In order to create an omnichannel sales network (Omnichannel), Guardian focuses on building eCommerce websites with Shopify in addition to deploying potential sales channels like eCommerce platforms, apps, and fast delivery channels via GrabMart.

This gives customers more affordable, quick, and convenient home shopping options. After only a short period of time in operation, the Guardian website has attracted close to 1 million visitors each month.

Guardian has risen to the top of the industry and evolved into the biggest and most prominent retail chain for health and beauty products in existence today thanks to a significant investment in developing a multi-channel ecosystem.

• Website: https://www.guardian.com.vn/
• eCommerce platform: Shopify
• Traffic: 908,599/month
• Ranking: 4,037 (Vietnam); 188,419 (Global)

Lam Thao Cosmetics

Since Lam Thao Cosmetics’ formal opening in 2017, young people have come to love it as one of their favourite cosmetic shops. Lam Thao Cosmetics is continually upgrading its product line with the most affordable rates in an effort to give customers more options with the trendiest goods and improve their experience.

Along with offering high-quality goods, Lam Thao also runs an eCommerce site on the Haravan platform to enhance clients’ offline and online purchasing experiences. The success of eCommerce implementation has also helped Lam Thao Cosmetics reach a significant number of online prospects, boosting both sales and brand recognition.

• Website: https://lamthaocosmetics.vn/
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 437,475/month
• Ranking: 8,423 (Vietnam); 392,219 (Global)

Nuty Cosmetics

For those who love cosmetics, Nuty Cosmetics is regarded as a cosmetics heaven. After operating and growing for more than ten years amid market ups and downs, the business is still a renowned source for real beauty products from well-known manufacturers in the US, Germany, France, Japan, and Korea.

The WooCommerce platform was used to create Nuty Cosmetics’ website, which has an easy-to-use interface and exceptional features that may satisfy clients when they shop online. Additionally, Nuty Cosmetics’ website offers thorough information about each product, along with clearly stated costs.

Because of this, despite the fact that there are only roughly 200,000 visitors per month on the site currently, Nuty Cosmetics has the potential to become a major player in the cosmetics industry with the correct efforts and attitude.

• Website: https://nuty.vn/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 229,347/month
• Ranking: 7,505 (Vietnam); 352,535 (Global)

AB Beauty World

In the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak that was raging in 2020, AB Beauty World (ABBW) was founded with the goal of being the top family-friendly cosmetics retailer in Vietnam. The brand has not given up despite the fact that this birth appears to have occurred at the wrong time.

In fact, AB Beauty World has grown and expanded with approximately 20 branches spread throughout the city’s districts in just two years since opening the first store in HCMC, concentrating on growing eCommerce, thanks to the timely redirection.

The WooCommerce-powered cosmetics website for AB Beauty World features an interface and capabilities tailored to the sector. The website has already seen more than 150,000 visitors in the short time since it launched, which is nonetheless viewed favourably for a newcomer to the fight for digital transformation.

• Website: https://abbeautyworld.com/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 157,602/month
• Ranking: 3,538 (Vietnam); 169,419 (Global)

Beauty Garden

Beauty Garden is one of the top retail and distribution brands for real cosmetics today. Since its establishment in 2014, the company has effectively extended its retail network to be present in numerous provinces and major and minor towns throughout the nation, including Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Dong Nai, and Can Tho.

In addition, Beauty Garden concentrates on developing eCommerce websites in the context of economic integration. As a result, the company’s website is expertly and systematically constructed using WooCommerce, the most popular eCommerce development platform worldwide, and is ideal for the cosmetics business.

The eCommerce implementation of Beauty Garden is seen as a sensible move since the development potential of this area is extremely great and at that time, the company had many advantages to build a business model, even though the number of users is still modest with more than 100,000/month.

• Website: https://beautygarden.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 127,439/month
• Ranking: 6,029 (Vietnam); 284,460 (Global)

All things considered, the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has impacted and altered consumer shopping behaviours for a variety of goods. Shopping for cosmetics, in particular, has seen a significant change from physical to online formats.

The information above is a summary and evaluation of SECOMM for 10 eCommerce sites with a good reputation and the capacity to meet customers’ demands when making a decision to purchase cosmetics.

These companies demonstrate their efforts to create the technological infrastructure needed to enhance the online shopping experience as well as their well-founded optimism regarding the market’s growth potential and dominance in Vietnam.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing e-commerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional e-commerce implementation solutions.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

Many businesses have promoted winery eCommerce in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been described as a “nightmare” for many economic sectors but appears to be “luck” for eCommerce.

According to Rabobank, eCommerce sales in the wine industry will reach USD 6 billion in 2021, up 4% from the same period in 2020. As said by Forbes, the percentage of online wine orders increased significantly compared to previous years before the pandemic.

Recognizing the potential of this field, many wineries in Vietnam have begun to develop eCommerce websites in order to quickly establish a market position.

Nam An Market

Nam An Market is a retail chain of healthy food stores that Nam An International Investment Co., Ltd. invested in in 2012. Its eCommerce website, which receives over 100,000 visits per month, was built successfully on the Haravan platform.

Aside from fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish, alcoholic beverages, particularly wines, are popular on Nam An’s website. Furthermore, the online shopping experience focuses on safety, convenience, speed, reasonable prices, and various appealing incentives.

• Website: https://namanmarket.com/
• eCommerce platform: Haravan 
• Traffic: 101.3K/month 
• Ranking: 9,079 (Vietnam); 404,452 (Worldwide)

Winemart

Winemart was founded in 2015 to provide consumers with the best services and products possible. Currently, Winemart operates in two main areas:

• Premium wine brand distribution
• Design and package Tet gifts for businesses and customers as needed.

Winemart’s eCommerce website receives over 60,000 visits and is regarded as one of Vietnam’s most prestigious online wine suppliers.

• Website: https://winemart.vn/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce 
• Traffic: 66.4K/month
• Ranking: 17,459 (Vietnam); 730,667 (Worldwide)

Sieu Thi Ruou Ngoai

Sieu Thi Ruou Ngoai is not only an eCommerce website that sells imported foreign wine but also a knowledge system about culture, history, and how to choose, preserve, and enjoy wines from around the world, allowing people who are passionate about or want to learn about wine culture to share and improve their understanding.

Sieu Thi Ruou Ngoai now has its own eCommerce website system, which receives over 50,000 visits per month and is highly regarded by customers for both product quality and online shopping experience.

• Website: https://www.sieuthiruoungoai.com/
• eCommerce platform: PHP language 
• Traffic: 48.1K/month
• Ranking: 16,664 (Vietnam); 735,935 (Worldwide)

Ruou Vang Cao Minh

Cao Minh was founded and developed by CEO Thanh Dung, a wine enthusiast who is passionate about learning about wine culture. After many years of research, learning, and improving service quality, Cao Minh has fully converged all the factors to become Vietnam’s leading wine supplier.

Cao Minh’s website is written in PHP and includes all the necessary features and an easy-to-use interface. Cao Minh Wine has become a household name among customers who prioritize online wine shopping.

• Website: https://ruouvangcaominh.vn/
• eCommerce platform: PHP language 
• Traffic: 45.9K/month
• Ranking: 22,324 (Vietnam); 982,166 (Worldwide)

Kho Ruou

Kho Ruou, also known as Kho Ruou Co., Ltd., is Vietnam’s leading importer and distributor of foreign wines and spirits, with over 3000 products of wine, spirits, beer, Japanese sake, and genuine high-end accessories.

Kho Ruou pursues an eCommerce business model by investing in developing a website using the WooCommerce platform. As a result, the company can easily reach a large number of potential customers both online and offline.

• Website: https://khoruou.com/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce 
• Traffic: 32.9K/month 
• Ranking: 52,372 (Vietnam); 2,140,674 (Worldwide)

Ruou Tot

When eCommerce is a new trend widely praised by the Covid-19 pandemic. To keep up with that trend, Wine Tot built an eCommerce website with WooCommerce, which helped to increase brand coverage and reach a large number of potential customers on the Internet.

• Website: https://ruoutot.net/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce 
• Traffic: 36.3K/month 
• Ranking: 21,489 (Vietnam); 943,255 (Worldwide)

Ruou Nhap Khau

Ruou Nhap Khau is a wine eCommerce website operated by Ham Ruou Vietnam Co., Ltd, one of Vietnam’s leading import and distribution businesses.

Ruou Nhap Khau creates an e-commerce website with the PHP programming language. With an easy-to-use interface and good product quality and service, the company has gradually gained customer trust for its imported wine product lines ranging from popular to high-end.

• Website: https://ruounhapkhau.com/
• eCommerce platform: PHP language
• Traffic: 28.3K/month
• Ranking: 31,246 (Vietnam); 1,334,043 (Worldwide)

Sanh Vang

Sanh Vang is a wine distribution brand founded in 2015 by Saigon Hoang Kim Investment and Trading Company Limited. Sanh Vang has expanded its branch network to many provinces, including Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa (Dong Nai), and Buon Ma Thuot.

Furthermore, Sanh Vang’s eCommerce website receives over 25,000 visits per month, and the brand receives many positive reviews from customers due to its wine quality, competitive price, available stock, and variety.

• Website: https://sanhvang.com/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce 
• Traffic: 25.4K/month 
• Ranking: 545,398 (Vietnam); 1,735,237 (Worldwide)

Winecellar

Winecellar, founded in 2007, is one of Vietnam’s largest wine companies, specializing in high-quality wine, beer, whiskey, food, mineral water, tea, and ceramic products. Winecellar, like Kho Ruou and Sanh Vang, uses the WooCommerce platform to implement eCommerce.

• Website: https://winecellar.vn/
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 21K/month 
• Ranking: 48,961 (Vietnam); 2,063,194 (Worldwide)

The Warehouse

The Warehouse is a wine and spirits distributor in the Vietnamese market, as well as one of An Nam Group’s retail brands.

With a long-term and sustainable eCommerce business in mind, this brand has decided to invest in developing its own eCommerce website on the open-source Magento platform and continuously upgrading this system to provide a better eCommerce experience for customers.

• Website: https://warehouse-asia.com/
• eCommerce platform: Magento
• Traffic: 5K/month 
• Ranking: 78,311 (Vietnam); 3,571,809 (Worldwide)

In general, Vietnamese wine brands are reaping numerous market successes after successfully developing their own eCommerce websites. However, the wine eCommerce business necessitates careful consideration of tactics to take the most effective steps not only in the short term but also in the long term.

Furthermore, wineries need to find a support unit or build a highly qualified in-house team to help them to achieve a common goal.

With many years of experience implementing eCommerce in many countries, SECOMM provides free consulting services with professional eCommerce solutions.

Contact us today for free support and advice!

Fashion eCommerce is growing increasingly influential, particularly in markets with a young population, such as Vietnam, where demand for fashion and lifestyle is diversified.

Recognising this, several fashion brands have begun developing their own eCommerce websites to join this lucrative business swiftly.

1. Coolmate 

Coolmate is a men’s fashion business started in 2019. With a D2C eCommerce strategy as the centre for business development, after only 2 years of implementation, Coolmate had a successful capital call on Sharktank with Nguyen Hoa Binh for 500,000 USD. By 2021, Coolmate’s sales may reach VND 139 billion, an increase of 3.5 times compared to 2020, setting the 2022 revenue expectation at 440 billion.

• Fashion field: Menswear
• Website: https://www.coolmate.me/ 
• eCommerce platform: Laravel
• Traffic: 1.5M/month
• Rating: 854 (Vietnam), 55,047 (Global)
• Estimated value: $16,781

2. Hải Triều

Hai Trieu, which was founded in 1991, has over 30 years of expertise in the watch industry. To adapt to the changing industry and consumers, Hai Trieu has incorporated an eCommerce strategy into its business model with the objective of becoming a dominant watch retailer in Vietnam. Hai Trieu’s eCommerce website has received over 1 million monthly visits and is ranked among the top sites in the fashion eCommerce industry in Vietnam. (according to iPrice).

• Fashion field: Watches
• Website: https://donghohaitrieu.com/ 
• eCommerce platform: WooCommerce
• Traffic: 1.1M/month
• Rating: 807 (Vietnam), 51,641 (Global)
• Estimated value: $19.016

3. PNJ

The official name of PNJ is Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company, which was founded in 1988. PNJ has spent a long time developing a fashion eCommerce website to apply the omnichannel sales strategy. Because of the early adoption of eCommerce, PNJ has surmounted the tumultuous year of 2021 with net sales of over VND 19,547 billion, an increase of 12% over 2020.

• Fashion field: Jewelry
• Website: https://www.pnj.com.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: CS Cart
• Traffic: 926.9K/month
• Rating: 791 (Vietnam), 49,842 (Global)
• Estimated value: $21,007

4. Juno 

Founded in 2005, Juno is a brand known for its line of women’s fashion shoes and bags. Juno saw the enormous potential of the e-commerce sector and invested early in technologies to make the online company more efficient. As a result, the eCommerce website of Juno is currently the highest-visited website in the fashion line of shoes and bags in Vietnam.

Juno has usually cultivated the clothes and accessories area to suit its clients’ increasingly broad consumer demands.

• Fashion field: Womenswear
• Website: https://juno.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 899.3K/month
• Rating: 1,242 (Vietnam), 80,279 (Global)
• Estimated value: $20,688

5. Canifa

Canifa is a family fashion brand established in 1997, under Hoang Duong Service and Trading Joint Stock Company – a large fashion retailer in Vietnam. Canifa has built an eCommerce business with a reputation achieved in traditional fashion since 2012. Because of its long-term and sustainable eCommerce business strategy, this company opted to invest in establishing its own eCommerce website on the open-source platform – Magento and regularly upgrading this system to provide clients with the better eCommerce experience possible.

• Fashion field: Familyswear
• Website: https://canifa.com/ 
• eCommerce platform: Magento
• Traffic: 286.2K/month
• Rating: 2,537 (Vietnam), 155,488 (Global)
• Estimated value: $8,383

6. Hoang Phuc International

Hoang Phuc International (Hoang Phuc) was established in 1989 as a luxury fashion retailer of Kappa, Ecko Unltd, Superga, Replay, and Staple. This brand has decided to enter the eCommerce industry after three decades of using traditional strategy.  Hoang Phuc has utilised and changed numerous platforms to create the successful eCommerce website that it is now. This business is currently employing the Magento platform – an open-source platform specialised in eCommerce.

This firm utilizes KOL and Livestream strategies to boost market penetration, besides constantly improving its own eCommerce website for selling apparel online.

• Fashion field: Retail of luxury products
• Website: https://hoang-phuc.com/ 
• eCommerce platform: Magento
• Traffic: 258.0K/month
• Rating: 2,338 (Vietnam), 144,530 (Global)
• Estimated value: $19,895

7. Biti’s

Bitis began as a small factory in 1982 and has grown to become the market’s top shoe and footwear brand. However, when user behaviour changes and new “players” enter the market, this business appears to fall behind. After a long period of lagging, Biti’s new CEO, Vuu Le Quyen – the eldest daughter of Mr. Vu Khai Thanh – chose to change strategy, focusing on investing in eCommerce business model to accelerate and catching up with the market.

Bitis’s has made a dramatic recovery due to this new strategy, vying directly with worldwide brands such as Nike, and Adidas in the Vietnamese market after a number of years of losing market share.

• Fashion field: Footwear
• Website: https://bitis.com.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 206.6K/month
• Rating: 2,549 (Vietnam), 149,642 (Global)
• Estimated value: $8,966

8. Orchard

Orchard, which was founded in 2004, is a supplier of more than 200 luxury perfume brands from across the world. Orchard has implemented eCommerce promptly to tap the “gold mine” of this industry and become the No. 1 perfume retail brand in Vietnam. Orchard’s eCommerce website is now the favorite destination for customers who want to buy perfume online.

• Fashion field: Perfume
• Website: https://orchard.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: WooCoomerce
• Traffic: 134.8K/month
• Rating: 6,800 (Vietnam), 372,708 (Global)
• Estimated value: $4,437

9. ONOFF

ONOFF was established in 2005 with the goal of providing daily comfort to everyone. ONOFF has advocated for adopting an eCommerce strategy by investing in building Magento websites like Canifa in 2016. As a result, the brand is gradually synchronizing on online and offline channels, with a customer loyalty rate of 80% maintained at all times, allowing ONOFF to more firmly believe in its goal of becoming the leading lingerie brand in Vietnam and a chance to conquering the ASEAN market in the next three years.

• Fashion field: Lingerie
• Website: https://onoff.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: Magento
• Traffic: 79.5K/month
• Rating: 10,061 (Vietnam), 518,911 (Global)
• Estimated value: $9,289

10. Rabity

Rabity is a children’s fashion brand that was launched in 2000. Currently, Rabity is the sole Disney and Marvel partner with image rights for children’s fashion lines ranging from 0 to 14 years old. Rabity is pleased to have been the pioneer in deploying the first eCommerce for children’s fashion in Vietnam. Rabity is now present on all eCommerce channels and has its own eCommerce website.

• Fashion field: Childrenswear
• Website: https://rabity.vn/ 
• eCommerce platform: Haravan
• Traffic: 12.3K/month
• Rating: 43,904 (Vietnam), 1,972,408 (Global)
• Estimated value: $15,335

Overall, fashion businesses are achieving several successes after developing their own eCommerce websites. However, the fashion eCommerce industry needs careful consideration of tactics to take the most successful actions in the short term and in the long run. Of course, to do that challenging task, fashion companies must find a well-known or build skilled IT team.

Fashion eCommerce has shown excellent development potential in recent years, with a worldwide market worth USD 759.5 billion in 2021 and predicted to reach USD 1 trillion by 2025. Clothing (+12.7%), Footwear (+11.6%), and Bags and accessories (+8.5%) are expected to increase the fastest in 2023.

Furthermore, fashion is one of the “four pillars” of Vietnam’s e-commerce economy, accounting for 43% of all online purchases, trailing only the eGrocery industry. According to the e-Conomy SEA Report 2021, 47% of Vietnamese respondents think that fashion eCommerce has become a consumer purchasing habit.

Despite the numerous prospects, this industry has multiple problems, including numerous rivals, continually changing consumer preferences, pushing firms to diversify models, Omnichannel sales to create more customer touchpoints, and so on.

As a result, to properly deploy fashion eCommerce, company managers must examine various elements, including the fundamental factor of developing a website. Among eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, Magento is renowned as a platform used by many famous brands to establish eCommerce, including Canifa, Hoang Phuc International, OnOff, and others. So, why have these companies selected Magento?

Fashion eCommerce requirements

Website interface

The demanding consumer base with excellent aesthetic sensibility is a common element of the fashion sector. This necessitates that fashion firms concentrate on the design of the eCommerce website interface, particularly the homepage, which must be professional and eye-catching.

The disadvantage of online fashion purchasing is that you cannot “See it with your own eyes, touch it with your own hands.” Therefore, the more detailed and colourful the image/video, the more authentic and trustworthy it will appear to buyers.

In terms of the UI (User Interface), visualisation affects the capacity of customers to engage with the website, helping to answer the question: “Has the user being able to navigate clearly from one page to another in a convenient way? “

Another website interface design is user experience (UX), from consistency in call to action button (CTA) or illustration locations, everything should be more convenient to create the most consistent experience for all website users.

Functional system

Many functionalities are required for an online fashion business website to satisfy industry requirements.

The fashion sector is distinguished by multichannel sales and numerous client touchpoints. For instance, on e-commerce platforms (Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo), social networking channels (Facebook, Tiktok, Zalo, Instagram), and e-commerce websites and applications. When implementing eCommerce for fashion companies, administrators must employ an Omnichannel approach.

Usually, the fashion industry will have a lot of product categories and collections, from clothes, and shoes, to bags and accessories, so consumers’ need to search for products on the website and e-commerce app is very high. From there, businesses should build multi-layer menus and advanced product search functions by keywords or filters to serve the needs of searching and navigating customers.

Furthermore, because fashion is a highly competitive market, the more influential the communication strategies, the more orders the brand will obtain. Loyalty Programs, Livestream, Shoppertainment, Affiliate Marketing, and other fashion-related communication strategies on websites and mobile apps.

Clothing, bags, shoes, and fashion accessories are frequently low-involvement goods, thus creating a rapid shopping cart function would assist consumers to speed up the purchase process, increasing online sales for businesses.

Businesses should construct a feature to help categorise consumers to take care of and tailor the experience for each type of client in the fashion sector, which frequently has several customer groups, such as new, old, and VIP. From there, organisations will gradually use the understanding of each sort of consumer to develop better business solutions in the future.

After all, fashion eCommerce systems must frequently manage high traffic levels during peak seasons.

Integration

Businesses require a highly integrated website construction platform to properly execute fashion eCommerce, including Omni-channel, management system, payment, shipping, analytics, and reporting.

Because the fashion industry is distinct, it needs considerable coverage across all sales channels to reach many potential customers. Therefore, while implementing eCommerce, businesses have to use an Omnichannel strategy. However, to synchronise all data from front-end to back-end when deploying Omnichannel, companies require a highly linked system across all sales channels.

Simultaneously, fashion firms frequently utilise several third-party management systems such as POS, CRM, ERP, and BI, so businesses must find an eCommerce platform that can combine and manage all data information on” a single screen”

Furthermore, companies must vary payment and delivery methods so that clients have more options when buying fashion goods.

Finally, organisations must integrate analytics and reporting tools to provide real-time measurements with the most user-friendly reporting table. From there, firms could provide more practical guidance in the future.

Scalability

Fashion businesses will have many different sizes, from startups, SMEs (small and medium enterprises), and new entrants to large corporations. Moreover, each business will have a different operating model, such as B2C, B2B2C, and so on.

All sizes and operating models will have unique requirements for each stage of brand development, so businesses need a platform to accompany them throughout the journey, preventing the circumstance of switching platforms consumes time and money when firms install eCommerce.

In summary, companies require a comprehensive platform to efficiently implement fashion eCommerce for the long run, including website interface, functional system, integration, and scalability.

How does Magento solve the eCommerce problem for the fashion industry?

Website interface

When designing a fashionable eCommerce website interface on the Magento platform, businesses have many choices, including using existing themes, customising themes, and designing their own interface.

For using existing themes, companies may find these in the marketplace, developer community, or partner for Magento-specific themes in the fashion industry. This helps businesses reduce the expense of interface design, but it limits firms’ brand positioning because the interface is easily imitated by other websites.

For customising themes, businesses can save money and add brand identification aspects like colours, fonts, layout and so on. However, to efficiently set up and customise the website interface, businesses require a team with significant knowledge and experience.

For designing their own interface, businesses will have a “tailored” website for their fashion brand. However, this will necessitate a more significant investment in development expenditures and a more competent workforce.

When using Magento to develop an eCommerce website, most fashion businesses often choose a customised theme or design their own interface to support a centralised eCommerce business.

Functional system

The Magento platform has all the capabilities needed to create a comprehensive eCommerce website, from essential to complex. At the same time, this platform permits the development of custom functions to tackle unique difficulties in the fashion business.

Basic features that assist businesses in running an efficient and seamless fashion eCommerce website, such as:

• Catalog Management: Manage all data, processes, categories, attributes, prices, inventory quantities, and images/videos to operate and optimise the efficiency
• Store Management: Manage product inventory and each branch’s business activities and personnel
• Cart and Checkout: Manage the shopping cart and customers’ information when they check out
• Customer Management: Manage customer information to increase marketing efficiency, purchase experience, and customer satisfaction
• Marketing Management: Optimize SEO and implement marketing strategies with tools to increase business sales
• Sales Management: Create and manage sales, order, payment, and shipping processes
• Content Management: Create and optimise all content elements for CMS pages, image storage, customise themes, and design websites
• System Management: Delegate administrators to review the best methods for website security and maintenance
• Analysis and Report: Support tracking and measuring eCommerce system performance and developing future strategies

Advanced functionality that enhances the online shopping experience for consumers, such as:

• Advanced features that improve the online buying experience for customers, such as:
• Advanced search (Elasticsearch, live-search) to improve the website’s ability to locate items.
• PWA (Progressive Web Apps) allows the website to have the same mobile functionalities and interactions as a native app.
• Advanced SEO to examine indexed web pages, assess the SEO quality of each page and make recommendations to improve website ranks.
• MSI (Multi Source Inventory) aids in the administration of items across several stores, significantly increasing inventory management.

Specific functions are those that assist businesses in dealing with fashion industry issues, such as:

• The multi-layer menu aids in displaying the range of fashion products
• Advanced search to help consumers find the product they’re looking for
• View 360 to see fashion product details
• AR/VR to replace the real shopping experience

In general, Magento can create any sophisticated functional system, with infrastructural development before and after depending on the demands of each organisation.

Integration

Magento is well-known as an e-commerce platform with significant connectivity with a wide range of third-party services, including Omnichannel, administration software, analytical and reporting tools, payment and shipping.

• Payment: Easily link the Magento system with current popular payment methods such as card payment (VISA, Mastercard), e-wallet (MOMO, Zalopay), payment gateway (OnePay, VNPay, PayPal) or COD to help diversify payment methods
• Shipping: Easily integrate shipping providers like Giao Hang Nhanh, Giao Hang Tiet Kiem, Ninja Van, Viettel Post and shipping tracking applications to optimise delivery processes
• Administration software: Integrating with back-office management and operation software (ERP, CRM, POS) like SAP, Salesforce, Ocracle to help operate all processes and resources in the organisation
• Business Intelligence tools: Link with business analysis tools like Power BI, Tableau, and Looker to offer database-driven analysis and reporting
• Omnichannel: Combine all sales channels on the same system to control data and operations from offline to online business

Scalability

Magento allows organisations to extend from one website to many distinct websites on the same system to satisfy the requirements of company-scale development. This implies that organisations can access and manage data from a single central Magento system.

With Magento’s language-switching functionality, businesses can create an attractive eCommerce website with customer-friendly content and languages. Furthermore, the Magento system enables businesses to effortlessly exchange currencies, allowing them to grow into new markets in a variety of nations.

From then, Magento can help businesses scale and function effectively without switching to another eCommerce platform from the beginning of business through the period of expansion.

In a nutshell, Magento is an e-commerce platform that caters for the demands of all types and sizes of fashion businesses, from website interface design and functional system development to integration and scalability. However, there are numerous challenges that firms must overcome when implementing fashion eCommerce with Magento, such as high installation costs, long construction times, and the requirement for highly skilled employees.

Recognising the aforementioned business difficulties, SECOMM provides free consultation services on technology and resource solutions for each company. 

Contact SECOMM now for more details!

eCommerce has become an essential business model that fashion brands must utilize not only to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic but also to assist companies in adapting to changing customer behavior, providing competitive advantages for future breakthroughs.
As a result, fashion eCommerce has become a crucial business trend for many fashion businesses today, from start-ups to “giant” corporations.

1. The potential of eCommerce in the fashion industry

According to Statista, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the fashion eCommerce market is predicted to be 14.2% from 2017 to 2025. The CAGR is forecast to reach a value of USD 1 trillion by 2025, in which the US market accounts for about 20%, equivalent to 204.9 billion USD.

In the Vietnamese market, fashion eCommerce is the second most important sector, just after eGrocery (The Vietnam eCommerce White Paper in 2021).

2. The advantages of implementing eCommerce in the fashion industry

2.1. Increase the breadth of your business

The use of eCommerce will provide fashion firms with a new sales channel, along with offline commercial activity in showrooms. For geographical factors, eCommerce transcends place and time to allow customers to purchase whenever and wherever they choose.

Simultaneously, eCommerce is a prominent avenue for reaching customers, particularly in the sphere of fast fashion for women. Marketing activities such as Livestream, Shoppertainment (Shopping with entertainment), Affiliate, and so on are more effectively carried out, leading to the extension of the commercial scope for enterprises.

2.2. Adapting to changing customer behavior

Following the COVID-19 epidemic and the social distancing order, consumer behavior has shifted dramatically, with the transition from physical to online buying rising over time in all categories. In the fashion business alone, the percentage of online customers climbed from 18% to 48% in 2020–2021. As a result, it is critical for fashion businesses to implement eCommerce.

After the epidemic, consumer behavior altered drastically, such as waiting until D-Day to purchase items.  Furthermore, by utilizing eCommerce technologies, organizations can follow, analyze, and synthesize the consumption behavior of each target group, something offline purchasing cannot accomplish. This ensures that businesses always have enough aggregated and forecasted data to implement business plans.

2.3. Improve the user experience 

When technologies that improve user experience in e-commerce are used, customer purchases will be made faster.

Visual experiences such as photos, movies, virtual reality experiences, and so on provide customers with full product information and expertise, enabling a speedier purchasing process. VR / AR technology enables people to shop for garments, accessories, and shoes online in the same way they would in a store.

For example, the American Apparel company has used AR to show shoppers more product information, like detailed descriptions, availability, colors, and buyer reviews.

eCommerce allows businesses to tailor the experience for consumers by collecting, evaluating easily, and summarizing the consumption habits of each target group, often with the following features: Recommend products, Products seen, and so on.

eCommerce provides a seamless experience for customers across many channels such as social media (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Zalo, etc), eCommerce marketplace (Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo, etc), eCommerce website, and mobile app.

3. Case study

3.1. Shein – The unicorn of the fashion eCommerce industry

Shein is a Chinese eCommerce site created in 2008 that specializes in apparel and accessories. With the motto “everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion,” the company pushes to give consumers a diverse selection of product options. Shein is currently regarded as a fashion “empire” with a valuation of $ 100 billion – more than Zara ($ 69 billion) and H&M (23 billion) combined.

Shein focuses on the youthful client sector of Gen Y and Gen Z, who use the Internet often. As a result, this brand has used technical components to reach more consumers in an appropriate and exact manner.

Shein created an eCommerce system that included a website and a mobile app to target overseas markets such as Europe, America, Australia, and the Middle East. Shein then advocated Social Commerce, Ecommerce Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, KOC, and other tactics to improve brand awareness and engagement.

In 2021, Shein’s mobile app exceeded 7 million monthly active users in the US alone (Airnow Data), and the hashtag #Shein garnered more than 10 billion views on TikTok (Jing Daily). Revenue reached $15.7 billion in 2021, up 60% from 2020 ($9.8 billion). It can be seen that Shein is a clear example of the effective application of eCommerce to capture market share in the fashion industry.

3.2. Coolmate – The missiles in the realm of fashion eCommerce in Vietnam

Coolmate is a menswear startup that was established in 2019. Coolmate is a mix of the words “cool” and “mate,” which means that the brand’s major purpose is to be a fashion buddy for customers. After barely two years of operation, this company received a $500,000 funding call from Sharktank Vietnam.

Coolmate utilizes the Direct to Customer Ecommerce (D2C eCommerce) model and concentrates on developing its own fashion website to provide a quick and cost-effective buying experience. At the same time, this brand prioritizes product quality, which is 100% made in Vietnam and meets export standards at low costs. Furthermore, to implement e-commerce faster, Coolmate advocates thoroughly apply the strategy of Ecommerce Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing, etc.

Aside from the $500,000 agreement for a 12.5% interest, 2.5% of the consultancy shares pledged, this fledgling business has other noteworthy statistics. Coolmate’s sales will reach VND 139 billion in 2021, up 3.5 times from 2020, with revenue expected to reach VND 440 billion in 2022 and an IPO (Initial Public Offering) by 2025. In general, eCommerce has considerably contributed to Coolmate’s development, as well as providing the groundwork for fashion businesses to follow to grow by market trends.

3.3. Yody – The behemoth chose to compete in the fashion eCommerce race

Yody (previously Hi5) is a family apparel label that was founded in 2014. To provide Vietnamese fashion goods made of high-quality materials to customers in various regions of Vietnam and throughout the world. Yody now employs over 700 people and has 90 outlets around Vietnam.

This fashion brand prioritizes the “tripod” of human resource development, product quality, and technology investment. Yody focuses on talent recruiting and culture training to engage employees in human resource development. In terms of products, Yody designs for comfort and convenience, and can be utilized in various situations, such as going to work, going out, attending meetings, and so on.

Regarding technology, Yody focuses on implementing an online sales strategy across Omni-channel such as eCommerce marketplaces, an eCommerce website, Facebook, Livestream, and so on to compete in the eCommerce race, as well as adapting to changing consumer behavior.

In 2016, Yody was selected as one of the ten outstanding young start-ups in Vietnam. By 2021, Yody’s physical sales will have dropped by 65%, but the internet segment has increased by more than 10%. Therefore, the company continues to aim to increase online revenue by 20% in the next year.

In a nutshell, how to apply fashion e-commerce will depend on the size and strategy of each company, but eCommerce is a prerequisite for successful business in this industry.