Illustrative image (Source: stefanini.com) Therefore, moving fast to understand changes inconsumer demands is crucial for any business to grow sustainably, according toresearch conducted by Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam.
Internet accessibility in Vietnam at presentincludes 94 percent of urban households and 69 percent of rural households.
If internet accessibility continues to growat the current pace, nearly 100 percent of Vietnamese households will beconnected to the internet in the next five years, the research said,adding that the number of broadband subscribers in Vietnam is 53.411 million.
The development of such services has promptedbusinesses and consumers to use the internet for different purposes likemarketing, selling, buying and payment.
According to Google, eight out of ten Vietnameseconsumers are online at least once a day.
Today’s Vietnamese consumers are also more familiarwith shopping online. Even before they make a purchase, consumers use theinternet to find information on products they considering buying, the researchsaid.
Higher purchasing power breeds greateraspirations, but does not mean that consumers will spend uncontrollably.
“Over time, we have seen that households tend tosave a greater proportion of their total income for the future and withinterest rates in Vietnam still relatively rewarding, it is understandable.Anyone selling any consumer goods now has greater competition, within a smallerpie,” the research noted.
Nguyen Huy Hoang, Business Development Director- Kantar Worldpanel Vietnam, said thanks to widespread internet coverage,Vietnamese consumers can access more diverse products and services. Throughvirtual stores, they can purchase products at home.
With rising incomes and a growing middle class,cross border shopping is another developing trend. Many international brandsstart seeing Vietnam as a great opportunity for them to increase their sales.Today, this is happening in various industries such as fashion with manyinternational brands moving into Vietnam and in fast moving consumer goodsmarkets.
More foreign brands can penetrate Vietnam‘smarketthanks to the proliferation of foreign retailers entering the market such asEmart, Aeon Mall and most recently 7-Eleven.
Each has their own plan to expand with morestore openings that will make more international products more accessible. Withmore foreign products more accessible to the masses in modern arenas but alsoin more traditional stores, this represents a threat to local products inVietnam.
Hoang said using the internet, businesses canpromote their products to consumers in other countries quickly and cheaply,noting that borderless online shopping allows enterprises to maximise sales.
The internet can also help farmers, smallenterprises and communities introduce their products to the world.
However, he said, the e-commerce market inVietnam is still at the very early stage of development and needs big playersto bring knowledge, know-how and expertise.
Fabrice Carrasco, Managing Director of KantarWorldpanel Vietnam and Philippines said Vietnamese consumers raise a lot of issues,with brand owners finding it hard to keep up with their modern lifestyle,independent decisions and demand for product sophistication. Such complexityrequires developing on-trend products and talking to shoppers. -VNA
VNA
