Leave the big slice of the pie to the “giants.” Serving customers in a small slice well can generate revenue on par with, or even greater than, the giants.
In 2006, the ‘Long Tail’ concept by Chris Anderson—one of the era’s 50 great thinkers, alongside figures such as Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and Bill Gates…—sparked a business revolution.
Chris Anderson showed that in the Internet age, profits do not necessarily lie only in the “hits,” the standout products on a statistical chart. Ordinary products also generate profits. Under the principle that small contributions add up, the combined volume of ordinary products is large, making the chart's “tail” generate considerable total revenue.
Vietnam is currently witnessing explosive e-commerce growth. Demand for online business is booming. The rapid emergence of delivery, payment, and marketplace services… further fuels this development. In that landscape, careful observers will see “long tails” waiting to be seized.
Take delivery services: while giaohangnhanh, Vn Post and shipchung… have captured almost all customers from major platforms such as Sendo, Zalora and Lazada… (the top of the market), over 30,000 online shops and Facebook sellers… (the tail) remain entirely underserved.
In business, everyone wants large orders, but those large orders naturally come with intense competition. Why shouldn't new entrepreneurs try taking on smaller orders?
While operating Grabtaxi and later GrabBike, I initially paid no attention to the delivery market until I discovered that our customers frequently used GrabBike to send and receive goods. In other words, there was substantial demand for instant delivery.
Using GrabBike’s existing resources, we decided to launch GrabExpress to serve the ‘long tail’ of delivery, meeting an urgent market need. Within a maximum of 2 hours after an order is placed on the GrapExpress app, the shop’s goods can reach the buyer.
Vietnamese e-commerce remains closely tied to cash on delivery (COD). The need to collect payment for customers is why GrabExpress delivery must be separate from GrabBike motorbike taxis. However, because deliveries are immediate, our GrabExpress operations do not require the heavy order management and delivery scheduling of the ‘giants.’
Staffing needs are significantly reduced, and costs are cut even further. Clearly, targeting the ‘long tail’ still offers many advantages. Let the ‘giants’ handle a few thousand orders a day. GrabExpress needs only 1 order per day from each small shop; with 30,000 shops, we can thrive, perhaps even more than the ‘giants.’
Sharing these things with young people, I do not think I am simply inviting more competitors. I show you opportunities and encourage you to enter the market. With more participants, Vietnam's e-commerce ecosystem will expand, and the market will grow for more people.
“There is always a ‘long tail.’ Look around and see what businesses your friends are running, what difficulties they face, and how you can help those small shops solve their problems. If you can solve the problem for your friend, it means you can help other shops as well.”
Besides delivery, the market offers other opportunities to target the ‘long tail’: helping shops with customer care, email marketing, gift wrapping, loyalty programs, and recruitment...
For new entrepreneurs, technology is the key to solving problems for the ‘long tail.’ With technology, working with a very large customer base does not require much additional time and effort. Many people habitually equate adopting technology with infrastructure investment and expense...
The technology I am referring to does not have to cost a great deal. Existing online solutions, when used well and combined intelligently—such as Facebook, Google Drive, and CRM, or customer relationship management systems—along with other available services can provide very inexpensive or free business tools.
Do not think you need infrastructure before you can seize an opportunity. If you do not have it, use what is already available! What matters is understanding the problem, boldly trying to solve it and, once you do, finding ways to scale your solution.
At GrabTaxi, we are working to win the market and capture the “long tail.” GrabExpress is still measuring user trends to improve its services and fit emerging needs as closely as possible.
Therefore, this year we will not develop additional products but will focus on doing our existing areas very well and expanding into other markets in Vietnam. Grabtaxi estimates Vietnam's delivery market at up to USD 1 billion, so there are still plenty of opportunities for young people…
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