Internet and e-commerce is a good environment for small- and medium-sized enterprises thanks to its advantages in low transaction cost, equal playground, extensive market, and reduced operation expense, as heard at a seminar on e-commerce in Hanoi on July 28.
According to Nguyen Dinh Chuc, head of the Institute for Regional Sustainable Development under the Academy of Social Sciences, e-commerce helps enterprises access international market and information more easily, reducing intermediary services and risk, and covering a wider range of customers.
Between 2012 and 2013, Vietnam’s internet and telecommunications enjoyed a rapid growth with an annual rise of 11 percent in the number of computers.
The number of internet users rose by 12.5 percent per year to reach 33.2 million, while the number of 3G service subscribers hit 17.2 million, he noted.
Chuc held that e-commerce also helps raise added value and provides fresh business ideas to enterprises, citing that 87 percent of surveyed firms said they search for information in websites run by State agencies, 48 percent said they have used online public services, and 33 percent seek biding information in State agencies’ websites. As many as 83 percent of surveyed businesses said they find online public services useful for their operation, he said.
However, he asserted that e-commerce service cost remains high, accounting for about 20 percent of enterprises’ revenues, coupled with challenges in trademark protection.
Meanwhile, the management of e-commerce faces many difficult as it is new to the country, while trust in online advertised products’ quality stays low and legal environment and socio-economic infrastructure remains insufficient. That is why e-commerce accounts for only 0.3 percent of total retail revenue despite the high rate of 92 percent of internet users surf the net every day, he explained.-VNA
