If you want to reach Vietnamese customers directly, you cannot ignore Zalo. It is the messaging app almost the whole country uses every day, and for brands it is one of the most underused channels in the market. I am Delissa Kieu, Vietnam Market Director at GMA. Here is our updated guide to Zalo, and why it matters more than ever for brands in Vietnam in 2026.

Zalo in 2026: still Vietnam’s home app

Zalo remains the default communication app for Vietnamese, with tens of millions of active users covering most of the population. While TikTok and Facebook grab headlines for discovery, Zalo is where relationships, service and daily communication happen. For brands, that makes it the trust-and-retention layer of a Vietnam strategy, the place you keep customers close after social and e-commerce bring them in.

I. The introduction of Zalo

1. What is Zalo, and where is it from?

Zalo is a Vietnamese messaging app developed by VNG, launched in 2012. It grew into the country’s dominant communication platform, with tens of millions of users, a local product built for local habits.

2. Key features for users

Free messaging and calls, group chats, media sharing, and payments through ZaloPay. It is woven into daily life, from family chats to booking services and paying bills.

3. Using Zalo’s ecosystem for marketing and support

For brands, Zalo offers Official Accounts, broadcast messaging, notifications, advertising and customer support. It is a direct line to customers, ideal for service, updates, offers and loyalty.

II. Zalo Mini App: the benefits for businesses

1. What is a Zalo Mini App?

A Mini App is a lightweight application that runs inside Zalo, no separate download required. Customers access your store, booking or service directly within the app they already use every day.

2. The advantages of the Zalo Mini App

• Cost efficiency. Far cheaper than building and maintaining a native app.
• Leveraging a huge user base. You meet customers where they already are.
• A simpler shopping experience. Quick login and integrated payment reduce friction.
• Brand identity. A branded, seamless experience inside Zalo.

III. 5 principles for designing a Zalo Mini App

• Simplicity. Keep the interface clean and easy.
• Structure. Logical, predictable navigation.
• Feedback. Clear responses to every user action.
• Consistency. A coherent look and behavior throughout.
• Allowance for errors. Make mistakes easy to recover from.

The 2026 update: Zalo in a compliant, omnichannel plan

Two things have sharpened Zalo’s role. First, as discovery moves to TikTok and social commerce, Zalo has become the retention and service layer, the channel that turns a first purchase into a relationship. Second, with Vietnam’s new e-commerce and data rules, a compliant, permission-based Zalo presence is a safer, more durable way to stay in direct contact with customers than many alternatives. Use Zalo to keep, serve and re-sell to customers that social and e-commerce bring you.

What this means for you

Zalo is the channel most foreign brands underuse in Vietnam. Build an Official Account, consider a Mini App, and use Zalo as your trust, service and loyalty layer inside a wider omnichannel plan. For context, see the Zalo platform and Vietnam’s Digital 2025 profile.

Read next on our blog: marketing tips to manage a brand in Vietnam and how Vietnamese consumers search for products.

FAQ: Zalo for brands in Vietnam

What is Zalo?

Zalo is Vietnam’s dominant messaging app, developed by VNG in 2012, used by tens of millions for messaging, calls, payments and increasingly for business and service.

Why should brands use Zalo?

It is a direct line to customers for service, updates, offers and loyalty. As discovery moves to social, Zalo is the retention and relationship layer of a Vietnam strategy.

What is a Zalo Mini App?

A lightweight app that runs inside Zalo with no separate download. Customers reach your store or service directly, with quick login and integrated payment.

Is a Mini App cheaper than a native app?

Yes, significantly. It costs far less to build and maintain while leveraging Zalo’s huge existing user base and reducing friction for customers.

How does Zalo fit an omnichannel plan?

Use social and e-commerce for discovery and sales, and Zalo for service, retention and loyalty, keeping customers close and re-selling to them over time.

Use Zalo to grow in Vietnam with GMA

At GMA, we help foreign brands build their Zalo presence in Vietnam, from Official Accounts and messaging to Mini Apps and loyalty, inside a compliant, omnichannel strategy. If you want to use Zalo well, tell us about your project.

Delissa Kieu, Vietnam Market Director at GMA (Gentlemen Marketing Agency). I lead our work on the ground in Vietnam, advising foreign brands on market entry, distribution and digital growth. If you want a clear read on this market, talk to our team.

GMA is a French agency based in Shanghai with more than 75 specialists, running marketing, e-commerce and distribution for foreign brands across Asia, with a dedicated team on the ground in Vietnam.