With the presence of many e-commerce websites in Vietnam in recent years such as Lazada, Tiki, Shopee, Sendo and Adayroi, online shopping is now popular to many Vietnamese consumers. Especially, the business booms when more and more young consumers take part in social networks including Facebook and Zalo.
Online shopping will continue rising rapidly in Vietnam.
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In the annual survey of Vietnam's Business Studies and Assistance Center (BSA), the number of people shopping online has tripled from 0.9 percent in last year to 2.7 this year. As young people start to participate more in online shopping, e-commerce is a potential area for retailers to exploit, which will bring many benefits to customers, said a representative of BSA.
E-commerce is a fast growing industry as customers' behavior change every day, said Tran Tuan Anh, CEO of the online retailer Shopee Vietnam. "This year will be the year of e-commerce as Vietnamese people are now very familiar with online shopping," he said.
Price will continue to be an important factor for Vietnamese customers, but product quality and service are becoming more important, he said. As more and more consumers are aware of e-commerce, the brand, service, technology and value added services such as shipping and payment will need to be improved, Anh said.
Tran Ngoc Thai Son, CEO of Tiki, also believes that the transition from traditional to online shopping is inevitable. E-commerce, now accounts for 3 percent of the $90-billion revenue of Vietnamese retail market, will grow to a 5 or 10 percent segment in the future, Son said. However, online shopping will not be able to replace brick and mortar businesses, he said.
"The growth rate of Vietnam's e-commerce market is estimated at about 35 percent, which is 2.5 times higher than Japan," said industry expert Duc Tam at the Vietnam Online Business Forum 2017.
According to one estimate, about 30 percent of the population will be buying goods and services over the internet in 2020, with each shopper spending an average of $350 per year.
However, to survive and develop in the market, retailer must rapidly apply technology in their business as big rivals equipped with advanced technologies will have outstanding advantages.
Consumer shopping behaviors in modern times are different as buyers can easily find information about sellers and suppliers on the internet with detailed descriptions about products, origin and prices. They can place orders with any supplier in Vietnam or overseas and get deliveries at their home.
The advantages that Vietnamese retailers have had for a long time such as geographical positions and low prices will become less significant.
With technological tools, it is easier to find suppliers that provide goods and services at low prices and high service quality.
Besides, retailers will have to compete with cross-border sales and cross-border customers.
This will forever change the business environment and affect business operations, experts said, adding that in the new circumstances, developing omni-channel sales, heightening awareness about the community, and applying technology are the only choice for retailers.
