Study finds gaps in e-commerce growth

A recent report by the Vietnam e-Commerce Association (VECOM) revealed growing disparity in e-commerce development among provinces and cities, and urged the Government to implement policies that boost development.
A recent report by the Vietnam e-Commerce Association (VECOM) revealedgrowing disparity in e-commerce development among provinces and cities,and urged the Government to implement policies that boost development.

Hanoi topped the Vietnam e-Business Index (EBI) 2014 with 72.6 points out of 100 perfect points.

Theindex was based on e-commerce application at about 3,500 enterprisesthroughout the country with four criteria: human resources andinformation technology infrastructure, transactions between firms andclients, transactions among enterprises and online public services.

Thecapital city was followed by Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hai Phong, BinhDuong, Dong Nai, Khanh Hoa, Can Tho and Nghe An. The northernmountainous province of Lao Cai was placed at the bottom of the list.

Thereport pointed out that the average EBI was 56.5 points, nearly a pointhigher than the previous year, reflecting the expansion of e-commercein business.

However, there were huge gaps among localities, interms of e-commerce application, as well as readiness for e-commerce,especially between the country's two major cities and other provinces,the association's General Secretary, Nguyen Thanh Hung, stated.

The average point among the top five localities was 68.3 in comparison with 48.0 points for the five lower most localities.

Hungsaid mobile platforms contributed largely to the development ofe-commerce, with 10 percent of the surveyed firms admitting to the useof mobile applications for their business and 15 percent having mobileversions for their websites.

Social networks are also becoming aplatform for the development of e-commerce, with 24 percent of the firmssaying they do business via social networks and 16 percent revealingthat their efficiency had improved as a result.

The report also pointed out that goods delivery services needed to be improve.

Inaddition, consumers' interests must be protected better. The reportfound that more than 80 percent of the customers were worried aboutproduct quality when buying online.

A survey by the Department ofe-Commerce and Information Technology under the Ministry of Industryand Trade revealed that more than 42 percent of the consumers were alsoapprehensive about the security of their personal information whileshopping online.

Hung said the Government should formulatepolicies to develop human resources and infrastructure for thedevelopment of e-commerce, and predicted an e-commerce boom goingforward.-VNA

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