ShopeeFood 42.94% vs. GrabFood 40.61% — Vietnam's "Super App Grocery War" Is Reshaping the Shopping Habits of 100 Million People

Vietnam's "Food" Has Become a Battlefield on the Smartphone

In Vietnam, the number of trips people make to the supermarket is declining. In its place, what's increasing is ordering a boxed meal on ShopeeFood or GrabFood and, while at it, tossing vegetables and detergent into the same cart on ShopeeMart or GrabMart. In 2024, the combined sales of Vietnam's top five e-commerce platforms reached VND 318.9 trillion (about 1.95 trillion yen), up 37.36% year over year. Among categories, the grocery and food category grew 76.3%, the highest growth rate of any category.

In food delivery alone, Vietnamese consumers spent 2.1 billion dollars (about 315 billion yen) ordering meals through apps in 2025, up 19% year over year. And in this market, ShopeeFood has finally overtaken GrabFood.

Related article: TikTok Shop Vietnam Raises Fees to Up to 14.5%

The Balance of Power in Numbers — ShopeeFood 42.94% vs. GrabFood 40.61%

What matters here is that ShopeeFood and GrabFood together account for 83.55%, amounting to an effective duopoly. In a market where Baemin withdrew in 2023 and both Gojek (GoFood) and Loship withdrew in 2024, shrinking from six players to four, only the newly entered Xanh SM Ngon is aiming to become a "third force."

Why ShopeeFood Was Able to Overtake GrabFood — The Disruptive Power of "While You're Shopping Anyway"

ShopeeFood's strength does not come from its polish as a standalone food delivery app. Being "one function" within Shopee's giant e-commerce ecosystem is its biggest weapon.

The reason Vietnamese consumers open the Shopee app is to buy clothes or cosmetics. While they're at it, they order lunch through ShopeeFood and put tomorrow's groceries in their cart via ShopeeMart. Payment is through ShopeePay, and installments through ShopeePayLater. Returns can be made free of shipping charges within 15 days. This "everything in one app" convenience removes the trouble of bothering to open the Grab app.

This structure is also borne out by regional differences: ShopeeFood's share reaches 56% in Hanoi, while GrabFood leads with 50% in Ho Chi Minh City. Younger people in Hanoi, where e-commerce penetration is high, tend strongly to "do everything through Shopee."

GrabFood's Counterattack — GrabMart's "Non-Food" Expansion and a 25% Rise in AOV

The Grab camp behind GrabFood is not standing idle either. GrabMart is rapidly expanding into categories beyond food, broadening its scope to cover daily life in general: health and beauty, convenience store items, mother and baby products, electronics accessories, and pet supplies.

As a result, GrabMart's average order value (AOV) has risen more than 25% year over year. The cross-sell strategy of "not just meals, but daily necessities too, through Grab" is showing up in the numbers. The speed of 15-30 minute delivery is also a strength for "things you need right now" — a point of differentiation against Shopee's next-day delivery.

Related article: Vietnam's Four Major E-Commerce Platforms Up 34.4% Year Over Year in 2025

Xanh SM Ngon — The "Third Force" Launched by Vingroup's EV Delivery

Xanh SM Ngon, officially launched in Ho Chi Minh City in July 2025, is a food delivery service spun off from "Xanh SM," the electric ride-hailing platform of Vingroup, Vietnam's largest conglomerate.

It has three points of differentiation.

First, low restaurant commission fees. While ShopeeFood and GrabFood charge 20-25% fees, Xanh SM Ngon keeps it to 17%. For restaurants, this works out to a 3-8 point improvement in profit margin, giving them a strong incentive to join. In Hanoi alone, it has already secured more than 2,000 restaurant partners.

Second, the brand value of electric motorbike delivery. In Vietnam's urban areas, where environmental awareness is rising, "meals delivered by EV" is becoming a reason for consumers to choose it.

Third, the "no-matching" direct dispatch method. Rather than bundling multiple orders, the system delivers directly from the restaurant to the customer, preserving the temperature and freshness of the food as much as possible.

BeFood — Targeting 20 Million Users with a "Made in Vietnam" Pitch

Be Group is a Vietnam-founded ride-hailing company backed by investment from VPBank Securities. Its food delivery arm BeFood has a small 4% share, but a standout growth rate — over two years, orders grew 390%, customers grew 250%, and partner restaurants expanded sevenfold.

The positioning of "a platform built by a Vietnamese company for Vietnamese people" is a clear counterpoint to Singapore-based Grab and China-based Shopee. Be Group has set a target of acquiring 20 million users and is advancing integration with its payment services and taxi dispatch.

Reactions on social media and from industry insiders

A Ho Chi Minh City foodtech entrepreneur (LinkedIn post): "ShopeeFood is winning not because the food is delicious, but because there's no reason to close the Shopee app. Ecosystem stickiness has rewritten the rules of competition in food delivery."

A Hanoi restaurant owner (Facebook): "Xanh SM Ngon's 17% fee is honestly a relief. Compared with GrabFood's 25%, if you serve 100 meals a day, that adds up to a difference of several million dong a month. That said, order volume is still low."

A Vietnamese e-commerce industry media reporter (X post): "The withdrawal of Baemin and Gojek has healthized the market. A structure where effectively 3-4 companies can turn a profit is better than six companies slugging it out at a loss — and it also helps improve conditions for delivery drivers."

An analyst at a Japanese consulting firm (industry report): "Vietnam's food delivery market is projected to reach 9 billion dollars (about 1.35 trillion yen) by 2030. It is the smallest market among the six Southeast Asian countries, but the 19% growth rate is healthy, and it's worth Japanese restaurant chains entering 'delivery-first.'"

The Overall Market Growth Map — 9 Billion Dollars (About 1.35 Trillion Yen) by 2030

Implications for Japanese Companies — The Era of "Delivery-First" Store Openings

For Japanese restaurant chains entering Vietnam, this shift in market structure changes the assumptions behind store-opening strategy.

Build awareness through delivery before opening a physical store. ShopeeFood's 42.94% share means that nearly half of Vietnamese people "eat first at whatever restaurant they found through an app." It makes sense to list on both ShopeeFood and GrabFood and build up reviews and order volume before even selecting a location for a street-front store.

Think of platform fees as "rent." Weighing GrabFood's 25%, ShopeeFood's comparable rate, and Xanh SM Ngon's 17% against each other, spread risk by listing on multiple platforms at once. Vietnamese restaurants list on an average of more than three delivery apps.

Run a retail presence on ShopeeMart in parallel. For Japanese food manufacturers, "another channel" has emerged beyond restaurant delivery: selling packaged food through ShopeeMart. The grocery category's 76.3% growth shows the potential of this channel.

Summary — "Winning Shelf Space Inside the App" Becomes the New Norm for Food Business in Vietnam

After the withdrawal of Baemin and Gojek, Vietnam's food delivery market has consolidated into a "ShopeeFood vs. GrabFood" duopoly. ShopeeFood takes the top share of 42.94% through the power of its ecosystem, while GrabFood counters with GrabMart's non-food expansion. Xanh SM Ngon aims to become a third force with EV delivery and low fees, and BeFood carries the banner of local Vietnam.

Toward the 9-billion-dollar market of 2030, competition is only going to intensify from here. But for consumers, the winner isn't "the cheapest store" — it's "the app that's hardest to leave." Where will Shopee's model of "food while you shop" find its equilibrium against GrabMart's "daily necessities delivered right now"? The shopping habits of Vietnam's 100 million people are being rewritten inside the smartphone.