TikTok Faces Regulatory Hurdles in Bid to Become No.1 in Vietnam, Expert Says

Following official criticism, ByteDance’s short-video juggernaut has slowed the pace of its expansion in the country

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After passing Alibaba-backed Lazada, TikTok Shop is narrowing the gap with Shopee in gross merchandise volume in Vietnam.

Regulatory risks could derail TikTok’s drive to become Vietnam’s No. 1 online marketplace, an industry expert said.

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The ByteDance-owned short-video app launched TikTok Shop in Vietnam in April 2022 as part of its broader ambition to control 35% of Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market.

Since then, it has surpassed Alibaba-backed Lazada to become Vietnam’s second-largest online marketplace by gross merchandise volume — TikTok’s vendors sold about $1.3 billion worth of goods in the past six months, according to local media which cited data from local analytics firm Metric. Now, only Singapore-based Shopee stands between TikTok and the top spot.