{"id":1330,"date":"2026-07-04T23:33:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/india-marketing.jp\/?post_type=vietnam-news&p=1330"},"modified":"2026-08-02T01:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T16:19:55","slug":"sendo-farm-exit","status":"publish","type":"vietnam-news","link":"https:\/\/india-marketing.jp\/en\/vietnam-news\/sendo-farm-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading the Sendo Farm exit: how to navigate the two-player era in Vietnamese e-commerce"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThis article is based on what we could verify As of August 1, 2026<\/strong> This article is based on public materials and news reports from Vietnam. Vietnam's tax system, regulations, and administrative divisions change frequently, so information here may have been updated since publication. For actual business decisions, please confirm the latest details with the relevant government authorities or local experts as primary sources.\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sendo Farm, the fresh food e-commerce service operated by a subsidiary of Vietnamese IT giant FPT, will stop service on July 10, 2026. Operator Sen \u0110\u1ecf cited \"optimizing resources and focusing on core business\" as the reason. Sendo, which once competed with Shopee and Lazada as a multi-category e-commerce player, withdrew from general e-commerce in April 2025 and sought a way forward by specializing in fresh food, but is now closing that last stronghold as well. As local players continue to exit, Vietnamese e-commerce has effectively consolidated into a two-horse race between Shopee and TikTok Shop. For Japanese companies already in the market or considering entry, the practical decision of which platform to bet their sales channel on is now unavoidable.<\/p>\n\n

Sendo Farm to stop on July 10 \u2014 a second withdrawal from multi-category e-commerce<\/h2>\n

Sen \u0110\u1ecf announced it will halt its fresh food, groceries, and daily goods platform \"Sendo Farm\" as of July 10, 2026. From July 1 to 9, it will run promotions to clear inventory before shutting down the business. To protect users, the remaining balance of membership packages will be refunded, wallet balances can be used until July 9, and after that customers can request a refund to their bank account.<\/p>\n

Sendo Farm has run a reservation-based model of \"buy today, receive tomorrow\" (nay mua \u2013 mai nh\u1eadn). Products are sorted overnight at a central warehouse and delivered to nearby pickup points such as neighborhood convenience stores, pharmacies, and households. Designed to spread fresh food into local communities at low cost, it has centered its operations on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This shutdown marks Sendo's \"second withdrawal\" from multi-category e-commerce.<\/p>\n\n

How a pioneer founded in 2012 wound down its general e-commerce business in 2025<\/h2>\n

Sendo launched in 2012, growing with FPT's backing as a pioneer of Vietnamese e-commerce. At one point, between 2012 and 2021, it had a cumulative 12.5 million customers. However, in the war of attrition with foreign-backed Shopee, Southeast Asia's Lazada, Alibaba-affiliated Tiki, and the fast-rising latecomer TikTok Shop, its share fell below 1%, and it closed its general marketplace on April 15, 2025.<\/p>\n

Its subsequent restart was to specialize in fresh food e-commerce as \"Sendo Farm.\" Built on the business that launched its first warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2021 during the pandemic, the aim was to redirect resources that could no longer compete in general e-commerce toward online purchasing of food and daily goods, an area with greater growth potential. But even in fresh food, it faced other strong rivals on a different axis \u2014 store-based chains such as Bach Hoa Xanh and WinMart, and instant delivery players such as GrabFood and ShopeeFood \u2014 making it difficult to survive on a single platform alone. This shutdown can be read as the surfacing of that difficulty.<\/p>\n\n

Consolidation into a \"two-horse race,\" seen in the data<\/h2>\n

Vietnam's e-commerce battlefield has now narrowed to almost just two companies. According to research firm Metric, Shopee leads with about 56%, closely followed by TikTok Shop at about 42%, with the two together accounting for roughly 97% of the market. TikTok Shop's GMV surged 148% year on year in the first half of 2025, rapidly closing the gap with the leader. Local players such as Sendo and Tiki have effectively been pushed into niche areas outside these two companies.<\/p>\n\n\n
Metric<\/th>Value<\/th>Source \/ basis<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>\n
Shopee's estimated share<\/td>About 56%<\/td>Metric (Vietnam)<\/td><\/tr>\n
TikTok Shop's estimated share<\/td>About 42%<\/td>Metric, the two companies combined about 97%<\/td><\/tr>\n
TikTok Shop's GMV growth<\/td>+148% year on year<\/td>First half of 2025, Vietnam<\/td><\/tr>\n
Sendo's withdrawal from general e-commerce<\/td>April 15, 2025<\/td>Background: share fell below 1%<\/td><\/tr>\n
Sendo Farm shutdown date<\/td>July 10, 2026<\/td>Sen \u0110\u1ecf announcement<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The market itself is not shrinking. On the contrary, consumption across the four major platforms has been growing by about USD 100 million a month on average, continuing to set new highs through all of 2025. In other words, the correct way to read this is not \"the withdrawal happened because the market is small,\" but as a structural shift in which \"concentration into two companies has advanced further within an expanding market.\"<\/p>\n\n

How it is being received locally and in the industry<\/h2>\n

Among people in the local e-commerce industry, opinions are split between finding this shutdown \"surprising\" and viewing it as \"only a matter of time.\" The view is that while potential demand for fresh food e-commerce is large, the ongoing investment burden of cold chain and last-mile delivery is heavy, making it easy for a single platform to end up in a war of attrition.<\/p>\n

Among sellers, there are renewed voices recognizing the risk of depending on a single sales channel. Because each withdrawal forces a transfer of inventory, credit, and customer data, the practical argument for spreading one's footing across multiple channels is being made again. On the consumer side, there are also voices of regret that a model for buying fresh food at a nearby pickup point is disappearing. Overall, the tone leans toward viewing Sendo's decision not as a \"failure\" but as part of \"selection and concentration.\"<\/p>\n\n

The platform choice Japanese companies entering the market should make now<\/h2>\n

The action Japanese companies should take at this juncture is clear: if setting up an online sales channel in Vietnam, redesign it around the two-brand premise of Shopee and TikTok Shop. It's fair to say that the era of betting the main axis of a sales channel on a third or fourth local player has, for now, come to an end.<\/p>\n

In concrete terms, first sort channels by how a company's own products sell. Staple products bought by name or products that involve comparison-shopping suit Shopee, where search and reviews carry weight. New brands whose value is best conveyed through video, or products bought on impulse, do well on TikTok Shop, which runs on live streaming and short-form video. The trend of beauty and food products growing via live commerce across Vietnamese e-commerce as a whole The reality of an e-commerce market that surged 47% in a quarter<\/a> also shows up here, and the combination Japanese food and cosmetics brands should test first is a two-pronged approach: \"Shopee = stable sales channel \/ TikTok Shop = new customer acquisition.\"<\/p>\n

Next, decide how to hold inventory and data in a way that accounts for withdrawal risk. A platform shutdown means, for a seller, losing a place for inventory and a break in the customer list. This time too, Sendo Farm had to handle refunds of membership balances. If entering under one's own brand, accumulating order and customer data on the company's own side as well, and building a structure that can move to another channel at any time from the start, is the way to prepare for the next round of consolidation.<\/p>\n\n

Ripple effects on market structure: fee and regulatory costs weigh in<\/h2>\n

Concentration into two dominant players also comes with the side effect of rising listing costs. TikTok Shop began raising fees in stages from April 2026, and Shopee followed suit. The more the platforms become an oligopoly, the harder it becomes for sellers to resist such changes in terms. The move to raise fees<\/a> is a factor that directly affects the profit plans of companies entering the market.<\/p>\n

In addition, Vietnam's new e-commerce and advertising rules, which are being rolled out through 2026, are increasing the compliance burden on both operations and promotion \u2014 covering seller verification, algorithm disclosure, and the legal status of KOLs\/KOCs. The new e-commerce law taking effect in July<\/a> means companies entering the market need to firm up internal rules on verification, labeling, and influencer engagement at the same time as choosing a platform.<\/p>\n\n

Practical checklist and related information<\/h2>\n