E-commerce grows 22 percent per annum

 

Dong Nai (VNA) – Electronic commerce in Vietnam has been growing at an average 22 percent a year, following the world trend of combining traditional and online sale, heard a conference on new trends of e-commerce in the southern province of Dong Nai on March 7.

According to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), e-commerce is an effective tool for online business activities, helping small- and medium-sized enterprises to access markets and introduce their products in a fast and effective manner.

The association reported that over 40 percent of enterprises enjoy higher sale revenues thanks to e-commerce, noting that about 52 percent of the Vietnamese population use the Internet, of whom 65 percent have purchased goods online.

Nguyen Ngoc Dung, Vice President of VECOM said that about 70 percent of consumers search the internet for information about the goods they intend to buy before going to the shop to buy the products.

Therefore, a firm having no website will make it difficult for customers to access its products, he said.

Dung asserted that developing a website is one of the first steps for enterprises to join e-commerce activities. A firm’s website will be closely related to its business activities and trademark, contributing to its prestige and reputation.

At the conference, many young startup entrepreneurs also shared ways to effectively exploit the Internet as a business tool. They noted that risks in e-commerce are real, and it is necessary to enhance the awareness of people and enterprises, thus building confidence of customers when trading online.

According to the Prime Minister’s decision approving the master plan for e-commerce in the 2016-2020 period, e-retail commerce in Vietnam aims at 10 billion USD in revenue in 2020, accounting for 50 percent of total retail revenue of the country.-VNA