Alibaba and Shopee clash in Vietnam as ASEAN e-commerce war rages – Nikkei Asia

HO CHI MINH CITY/SINGAPORE — For Nguyen Ngoc, a merchant in Ho Chi Minh City selling blouses and wallets, a typical way to reach online customers is through Facebook. But these customers often ask to switch to online marketplace Shopee for payment.Ngoc understands why: Shopee is known for free deliveries.”From the beginning, Shopee has been geared toward low fees. People associate it with free shipping,” Ngoc told Nikkei Asia.Free deliveries and low commissions are part of Shopee’s aggressive marketing efforts in Vietnam that have helped it become the country’s most popular e-commerce platform and grow through the COVID-19 pandemic. Shopee,…