Illustrative image (Source: expertbeacon.com)HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam should develop cross-border e-commerce, a growing trend, according to experts.
Tran Huu Linh, head of the Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said developing cross-border e-commerce will help enterprises export more goods through online transactions.
Cross-border e-commerce has been growing strongly in the world, as well as in the Asia-Pacific, with many successful models such as coordination between the US’s eBay and Japan’s NetPrice, or between China’s Alibaba and NetPrice, Linh said. Vietnam needs to build bilateral and multilateral environments to help foreign customers buy Vietnamese commodities.
Vietnam and Japan have been increasing bilateral cooperation in e-commerce in recent years, added Linh.
Kakuno, from the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau under the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said Japanese companies are willing to cooperate with Vietnamese partners to build cross-border e-commerce platforms.
The number of Vietnamese enterprises implementing online business solutions has increased since 2014, and most of them have considered e-commerce an indispensable part in their business strategy to increase their market share and approach customers in a quicker manner.
According to a report on retail in Vietnam from Nielsen, a market research company, around 30 percent of customers are loyal to online shopping and consult information on social networks to make shopping decisions.
The report showed 72 percent of Vietnamese customers said shopping online is very convenient. Fifteen percent said no to shopping online because of delivery fees or difficulties using websites.
Lazada Vietnam launched its biggest sale of the year with discounts of up to 50 percent on www.lazada.vn, the country's largest online shopping website, from November 11 until December 12.
The programme has been supported by the Vietnam E-Commerce and Information Technology Agency, Vietnam E-Commerce Association, the Department of Industry and Trade in HCM City, 20 brand names and 40 delivery partners as well as banks.
Under the programme, thousands of offers of discounts of up to 50 percent as well as vouchers are available.
Lazada's "online shopping revolution programme" began in Singapore in 2012. It is a version of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Singles Day.
Meanwhile, the thegioididong.com system has received more than 3,000 orders for Apple’s latest dual handsets, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, since October 30. Of these, more than 2,400 customers made a deposit to purchase the products, marking an unprecedented order record for the company.
In order to assist enterprises, in December, the Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency will coordinate with associations and enterprises to organise an online shopping day – Online Friday 2015.
According to experts, it is necessary to build policies to help the sector develop. Practical programmes and projects can also promote e-commerce locally and internationally.-VNA
