What Is Zalo? Complete Introduction in 2025 to Boost Your Business in Vietnam

As global cross-border e-commerce surges, Southeast Asia has emerged as a strategic focus for brands and merchants. Among these markets, Vietnam stands out with its young population and high internet penetration, driving strong online consumption trends. Zalo, Vietnam’s most widely used messaging and social app, boasts over 70 million active users and has become the go-to platform for users to access information, connect with businesses, and interact with brands.

For cross-border sellers and local service providers targeting Vietnam, integrating with Zalo means truly embedding into users’ daily communication habits. SaleSmartly now officially supports integration with Zalo Official Accounts! You can manage customer messages from WhatsApp, Facebook, Zalo, and more all in one platform, streamlining responses, improving follow-ups, and boosting both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

What Is Zalo? Vietnam’s Local Version of WhatsApp

1. Locally Developed: Zalo was created by the Vietnamese tech company VNG in 2012 and quickly became the country’s dominant messaging app.
2. Massive User Base: With over 70 million monthly active users, Zalo spans every region and demographic in Vietnam, making it the top communication tool in daily life.
3. Localized vs. WhatsApp: Unlike WhatsApp, Zalo is deeply localized with full Vietnamese support and is widely used for government services, healthcare, and education. This gives it a higher level of trust and frequent use among locals.

Core Features of Zalo: A Vietnamese Super App

Zalo is more than just a messaging app, it’s an all-in-one communication, social, and transaction hub. Key features include:

• Instant Messaging: Stable and efficient text, voice, and video communication, ideal for customer service.
• Social Feed: Users can post text, photos, and videos, interact through likes and comments, and stay engaged with friends and brands.
• Chat Rooms: Group chats and interest-based communities offer brands opportunities to create topic-based groups for customer engagement.
• Games: Built-in mini-games keep users engaged and provide opportunities for interactive marketing.
• Zalo Pay: Offers seamless online payments, transfers, and QR code transactions, enabling easy purchases right inside the chat.
• Zalo Official Account (Zalo OA): Brands can publish content, send messages, provide private customer service, and build long-term relationships, like a localized combination of a public account and service center.

Why Use Zalo to Grow Your Business in Vietnam?

Zalo is not just a communication tool, it’s a direct line into the everyday lives of Vietnamese consumers. Here’s why it’s a powerful channel for business development:

1. Wide Reach, Low Cost: With 70 M+ users, Zalo spans all major cities and age groups. Compared to email or SMS, it has higher open and engagement rates, making it cost-effective for customer outreach.
2. High Trust, Fast Conversion: Used for official services, Zalo enjoys strong local trust. Messages from businesses via Zalo feel more legitimate, helping drive quicker responses and purchases.
3. Private Channel Building: Brands can build a customer database through Zalo OA, send personalized messages, and run campaigns, creating their own “private traffic pool.”
4. Advertising Integration: Zalo’s ad platform supports various formats like native and image ads. Drive traffic directly to your official account and convert users through chat.
5. Built-in Payment System: Zalo Pay allows in-chat payments, ideal for local e-commerce, appointment-based services, and offline transactions.
6. Third-party Integration Ready: Zalo’s open API connects seamlessly with platforms like SaleSmartly, allowing centralized message management, customer tagging, auto-replies, and chat routing.

Zalo + SaleSmartly: Your Gateway to the Vietnamese Market

As businesses expand globally, breaking into new markets like Vietnam comes with both challenges and rewards. SaleSmartly’s Zalo integration helps you localize communication and manage customer relationships more efficiently.

1. One Platform, All Channels

Slash response times by managing Zalo, WhatsApp, Messenger, and other channels in one unified inbox. No more app-hopping: every message (pre-sale questions, support tickets, or payment issues) lands in a single dashboard. This not only boosts the efficiency of your customer service team but also ensures that no customer message goes unanswered. Your team resolves inquiries faster, misses zero queries, and converts casual chats into loyal buyers.
In SaleSmartly, go to Integrations > Zalo App > Add a Device > Activate Equipment, then scan the QR code using Zalo to complete the connection to SaleSmartly.

2. Faster Responses, Better Service

Speed is key in cross-border sales. Integrating Zalo into SaleSmartly ensures faster replies with features like auto-assignment, collaborative support, and real-time translation.

To enable this, go to Basic Settings > Project Management > Chat Settings > Session Allocation Settings in SaleSmartly, and check Auto Session Allocation. You can customize assignment rules based on whether the visitor is new or returning. The system will automatically route conversations according to your rules, speeding up response times.

SaleSmartly also supports real-time, bidirectional translation, so you can chat effortlessly with Vietnamese customers. Messages from customers are translated into Chinese, and your replies are translated into Vietnamese, no language barrier.

3. Smarter Customer Insights, Better Sales Outcomes

Understanding customer needs drives conversions. SaleSmartly offers a customer profiling and tagging system, combined with chat history management, to give businesses deeper insights into their audience. These tools help identify customer intent more accurately, enabling personalized follow-up strategies.

From the Customer List, you can manage customer data, conversations, forms, and tags. For example, in the SaleSmartly Customer List, you’ll see details such as phone numbers, email addresses, source channels, and visitor tags. You can also re-engage with users, send bulk messages or emails, and assign tags to better organize and manage your contacts. Customer List helps you refine customer profiles by analyzing interaction history and behavioral data, so you can better understand customer needs and create targeted sales strategies that boost conversion rates.

4. Centralized Data, No More Lost Leads

Scattered data and employee turnover can hurt cross-border operations. SaleSmartly centralizes all Zalo interactions, past inquiries, and purchase behaviors for easy access and re-marketing.

In Channel Analysis in SaleSmartly, view data such as new customers, returning users, and more, helping you assess performance and adjust strategy.

In the Service Overview, access real-time stats on chat volume and agent activity. Visual dashboards provide insight into customer service efficiency and trending product inquiries in the Vietnamese market.

Final Thoughts: Zalo + SaleSmartly = Local Growth Engine for Vietnam

By integrating Zalo, the most trusted communication tool in Vietnam, with SaleSmartly’s global customer service platform, your business gains a powerful edge: better reach, streamlined management, and automated follow-ups. This all-in-one solution helps you build a conversion-driven communication loop tailored for the Vietnamese market.

If you’re eyeing Southeast Asia, combining Zalo with SaleSmartly is your first step toward achieving true local growth.

Further Reading

DTC Customer Loyalty Loop: Turn Service Fixes into Repeat Sales

Enhancing Conversational Commerce: SaleSmartly Now Offers Free Real-Time Translation!

How to Manage Multiple E-Commerce Accounts? SaleSmartly Makes Global Communication Smarter!

Al-Powered Automation: SaleSmartly's New Intent Recognition Feature