E-commerce enjoys strong growth
Speaking at a
recent conference on the occasion of this year's Internet Day in Hanoi
, Lien said that online marketing is having an increasingly
significant impact on internet users, adding that advertising on
traditional media remains dominant at this time.
"Each Vietnamese
customer spends around 120 USD per year on average for online shopping.
Compared with other Asian countries, the number is still small but there
is tremendous potential to develop e-commerce," he said.
"In
Vietnam , 48 percent of e-commerce websites have payment tools but the
weak payment tools limit transactions. Domestic e-commerce does not yet
have a reputation to attract foreign users."
According to VIA, 36
percent of the population is using the internet. Users can access the
internet in various ways, including through fixed broadband, Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL), fibre optics and TV cables.
Currently, Vietnam ranks 15th among countries with high-speed
internet, with the VIA forecasting that Vietnam would have 35
million users by 2017.
Also at the Dec. 4 conference in Hanoi, Le
Thi Ngoc Mo, deputy director of the Ministry of Information and
Communication's Telecommunications Department, said total revenues of
internet service providers (ISP) in Vietnam reached 15 trillion VND
(more than 714 million USD) last year, with 5 trillion VND (238 million
USD) coming from 3G network services.
Despite dramatic growth
occurring in the sector, the number of ISP licences declined by 30 with
only 55 licences being granted.
Trinh Quang Chung, business
solutions manager at Google Asia Pacific, said that eight out of ten
users said they had searched product information on the web before
deciding to buy them and 41 percent believed that the search results
were useful.
He said that some small-sized and medium enterprises
only built their own websites yet did not create their mobile versions.
"It is regretful that they cannot approach customers on mobile phones
and do not take care of a strategy of turning website visitors into
loyal customers," he said.
Le Hong Minh, chief executive officer of
VNG Corporation, said his company, which conducts operations across all
internet service areas, has noticed businesses in a wide range of
fields moving online.
"Between 2009 and 2013, the number of
internet users increased by 1.7 times but broadband capacities have
climbed 7.5 times compared with the previous period (2005-09). It shows
that the growth of service revenue has been on the rise because users
have utilised different devices to access the internet," he said.
Minh expects that the number of internet users will reach 60 million and
total revenues of internet services and content will be 100 trillion
VND (4.7 billion USD) by 2018.-VNA