Sendo Farm in Vietnam understood that to survive in the ultra-competitive e-commerce market, it had to be innovative. Refocusing its operations around online grocery, the company uses a network of housewives and small businesses to distribute its products. This ingenious and collaborative strategy allows Sendo Farm to position itself as a key player against the behemoth platforms Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
The Emergence of Sendo Farm: Redefining E-commerce in Vietnam
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The relative failure of Sendo, a once-promising e-commerce platform, in the face of massive competition from industry giants, led the company to refocus on a niche segment: online grocery. In April 2025, Sendo officially launched Sendo Farm, a project focused on the collaborative distribution of fresh produce. This initiative is positioned in a market valued at $2.8 billion by 2024, illustrating a strategic adaptation to an increasingly complex competitive environment. This transition to the food market is based on a unique feature: mobilizing housewives and small shop owners to transform their living spaces into local distribution centers. Between 2012 and 2021, Sendo registered up to 12.5 million customers. However, by 2024, its market share had fallen to less than 1%. This contraction reflects the regional trend in Southeast Asia, where local platforms are struggling to maintain their position in the face of massive offers from foreign companies willing to offer discounts and free shipping. However, this prospect did not spell the end for Sendo. On the contrary, it catalyzed a complete transformation led by a model inspired by the success of the Chinese giant Pinduoduo.
By collaborating with local stakeholders such as housewives, Sendo Farm optimizes the use of domestic and partner space for storage, while delivery is handled by community members themselves, not only reducing logistics costs but also strengthening social ties.
A trust factor emerges from this local collaboration: neighbors source from trusted contacts who understand local cultural and consumer habits. Discover how an innovative Vietnamese company is mobilizing housewives to create competitive momentum against Chinese e-commerce giants. Explore the unique strategies and sociocultural impact of this initiative. Sendo Farm consolidates orders in advance to optimize logistics Innovative use of available space in private homes
- Strengthening community ties
- A model inspired by Chinese e-commerce
- To counter e-commerce giants, Sendo Farm drew inspiration from the Pinduoduo model, where customers are encouraged to consolidate their purchases to obtain quantity discounts. This responds not only to an economic need, but also to a Vietnamese social reality: the desire to collaborate at the community level. A massive shift took place with the opening of its first warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City during the Covid-19 lockdown, shaping a model capable of adapting to diverse circumstances, ready to take on the challenge of personalized distribution.
- This model is not simply a replica of the Chinese success story, but is enriched by local practices. Indeed, Vietnam is characterized by a neighborhood structure where potential buyers can easily interact and organize these group orders. However, the success of this adaptation depends on Sendo Farm’s ability to build an infrastructure that can support this complex logistics, while committing to reducing intermediaries to offer affordable products.
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The crucial role of housewives in Sendo Farm’s expansion
One of the pillars of Sendo Farm’s success is its network of housewives, an often underestimated asset in the business world. These women are not only logistics partners but also social and economic actors in their communities. By transforming their homes into mini-distribution centers, they capitalize on their knowledge of the neighborhood while generating additional income. Nguyen Lan Huong, a former teacher, is one of them, managing a Sendo Farm center from her home while building a loyal, growing local clientele. On average, a partner like Huong can earn up to 6 million dong (approximately US$230) per month, a significant income in many Vietnamese households. This financial independence encourages women to become more involved in the business. For many, it’s a natural extension of their domestic responsibilities, while also allowing them to acquire entrepreneurial skills.Personal stories emerge as illustrations of success:
, an entrepreneur turned partner, successfully expanded her artisanal business thanks to the income generated by Sendo Farm. These testimonials demonstrate how, through small, cumulative actions, Sendo Farm is contributing to the empowerment of women in Vietnam. This initiative not only strengthens the local economy, but also contributes to redefining traditional roles and bringing families and communities closer together.
To maximize efficiency, Sendo Farm has implemented an intuitive application that allows partners to receive orders, manage inventory, and interact directly with customers. This digitalization of the business simplifies and optimizes the process, promoting decentralized management tailored to the specific needs of each neighborhood.
Discover how a Vietnamese company is innovating by mobilizing housewives, offering them employment and training opportunities, while positioning itself as a serious competitor to Chinese e-commerce giants. An inspiring study on empowerment and competitiveness in the digital sector. The economic and social impact of the model
Beyond the commercial aspect, Sendo Farm actively participates in social transformation in Vietnam. By providing accessible part-time employment, it offers women economic security and a way to contribute to the family income without having to leave their homes. This unique model not only increases women’s engagement in the economy but also breaks down certain gender stereotypes. As a 2023 study by the organization Strive Women in Vietnamshows, women entrepreneurs gain confidence and self-assurance by participating in economic activities. This results in higher self-esteem and greater social recognition.
Furthermore, this model is supported by entities such as UN Women, which recognized Sendo’s efforts in promoting gender equality through the WEPs Awards in 2024. This underscores the extent to which these initiatives have a reach that extends far beyond domestic borders to influence the economy and society on a broader scale.
Future of e-commerce: challenges and opportunities for Sendo Farm
As Sendo Farm increasingly establishes itself in the Vietnamese market, it faces several challenges. Increased competition from online supermarkets and other major platforms such as Shopee and Lazada represents a threat that must be addressed by strengthening its community model. To this end, Sendo must develop strategies that will improve its logistics infrastructure to accelerate its growth. At a crossroads, Sendo Farm is expanding its infrastructure with potential partnerships with major local brands such as VinFast, Fashion4U, and Coco90. This could pave the way for more robust logistics solutions, facilitating faster shipping and more efficient inventory management. Strategic PartnersContribution
VinFast Eco-friendly shipping solutions Moc Nho
Trà Móc
Premium Vietnamese tea Fashion4U Eco-friendly accessories Coco90 Natural beauty products
In 2025, the introduction of innovative technologies such as blockchain for item tracking and the use of AI tools to analyze purchasing trends provide an exciting backdrop for Sendo’s future. Exploring new avenues, this company is emerging as a hybrid model for creating sustainable economic value while relying on local human networks. Conclusion of women entrepreneurs in Vietnamese e-commerceThe example of Sendo Farm highlights how a business can not only resist but thrive in the face of global market giants by embracing local collaboration and promoting women’s empowerment. The Sendo model highlights how housewives, traditionally overshadowed in the formal economy, are proving to be key players in the expansion of a more equitable online marketplace. One need only observe how women like Nguyen Lan Huong have transformed their daily lives into active economic engagement to recognize the immense and often untapped potential of these actors. From the perspective of socially responsible entrepreneurship, this model invites us to rethink the business benchmark and opens exciting perspectives for the future of e-commerce in Vietnam and beyond. Therefore, Sendo Farm not only demonstrates the adaptability and resilience of a business model in a rapidly changing economy, but also provides compelling evidence of the positive social impact that can result from the creative integration of women into business strategies. Initiatives and practical implementations of gender equity such as these, as discussed in this article on gender reforms in Vietnam, should serve as an inspiring model for other developing countries.Discover how an innovative Vietnamese company is mobilizing women at home to create a new dynamic in the e-commerce market, challenging Chinese giants and transforming lives while strengthening the local economy.
