Cross-border e-commerce is emerging as a new export lane for Vietnam, letting companies get closer to overseas shoppers, widen markets and build digital brands.

A digital border gate platform is under pilot since August 2023 at Kim Thanh International Land Border Gate No. 2 (Photo: VNA)

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s 2026–2030 support agenda has a blunt goal of turning online exports from a promising sales channel into real operating capability and durable value for Vietnamese goods.

Lai Viet Anh, Deputy Director of the ministry’s Vietnam E-commerce Agency, said exporters must clear a long checklist at once, including market access, standards, branding, digital content, payments, logistics, insurance, customer service, data and legal rules in Vietnam and destination markets.

Anh said the national e-commerce development master plan for 2026–2030 calls for modern, sustainable growth, stronger competitiveness and more Vietnamese products sold online.

To make cross-border e-commerce a genuine export driver, Vietnam needs a digital export ecosystem in which each player owns a critical link.

Tran Thuy Tien from the agency’s cross-border e-commerce division said Vietnam has 18 free trade agreements covering more than 65 markets.

That, plus production and processing capacity and the export mix, gives companies a strong base for cross-border online sales.

The gap is scale as cross-border e-commerce exports were only about 0.48% of Vietnam’s total export turnover in 2025, a small share that signals both weakness and large headroom.

Footwear and many consumer goods still have room to grow, and personal care, organic and natural herbal products look promising as overseas consumers shift toward natural-origin goods.

Tien said market headroom becomes export turnover only when companies have the capability and a coordinated ecosystem behind them.

The agency is rolling out online export measures under the 2026–2030 master plan and a draft cross-border e-commerce export promotion project. Support will run from basic awareness-building to deep consulting by company, product and market.

Discovery commerce is widening the opening. Short video and livestreaming put products in front of consumers and give lesser-known brands a route to market.

Companies no longer need a broad distribution network before reaching customers; they can use digital content, consumer communities and gradual brand-building abroad, she said.

Tran Thi Tan, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Strategic Partnerships at TikTok Shop, said TikTok Shop’s experience in the US and China shows Vietnamese companies are already joining the model.

Twenty Vietnamese businesses and sellers now operate in the TikTok Shop ecosystem in those two markets, and 10 have passed 1,000 orders.

TikTok Shop’s “Beyond Vietnam - Vietnamese Products Take Flight” programme aims to train and support 2,000 Vietnamese exporters in 2026–2028 to officially list products in the US and China ecosystems.

It also targets 100 companies reaching their first 1,000 orders and 10 Vietnamese brands or sellers generating 1 million USD in revenue from discovery commerce.

The Vietnam E-commerce Association’s “Young entrepreneurs going global through e-commerce” programme with Amazon takes a similar line: digital skills, AI, cross-border e-commerce and links into the export support ecosystem.

It targets companies with promising products, domestic online experience and international ambitions.

According to Anh, the master plan is designed for modern, sustainable growth, stronger competitiveness and more Vietnamese products sold through e-commerce.

At the same time, Vietnam Go Global for 2026–2030 is meant to add tools for market expansion, competitiveness and overseas presence.

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