The Vietnam e-Business Index (EBI) 2015 report has revealed great disparity in e-commerce development among localities, particularly in big cities including Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi.

The statement was affirmed by Chief of the Office of the Vietnam e-Commerce Association (VECOM) Nguyen Ky Minh in a ceremony announcing the report held in Hanoi recently.

Minh said the EBI 2015 was based on the application of e-commerce at about 5,000 enterprises throughout the country. The report showed e-commerce enjoyed a rapid growth in 2015 in all business sectors, supported greatly by information technology and telecommunication.

E-commerce has contributed to the building of an economic information society in Vietnam, as some of the country’s leading e-commerce enterprises’ growth rate stood at over 200 percent last year, he added.

VECOM’s General Secretary Nguyen Thanh Hung highly valued the index which represented significant progress in online transactions between State’s offices and enterprises.

Hung said mobile phone platforms contributed largely to the development of e-commerce, with 26 percent of the surveyed firms using mobile applications for their business and 18 percent having mobile versions for their websites. 

Social networks are also becoming a platform for the development of e-commerce, with 24 percent of the firms saying they do business via social networks and 16 percent revealing that their efficiency had improved as a result. 

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

Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association Vu Hoang Lien stressed that consumers' interests must be protected better.

Lien acknowledged that the report found that more than 41 percent of consumers were apprehensive about the security of their personal information while shopping online, and 81 percent of customers were worried about product quality when buying online.

Therefore, most e-commerce enterprises have introduced a customer personal information protection policy, and consumers can protect themselves by checking a website’s information via the Ministry of Trade and Industry website: online.gov.vn before purchasing an item.

VNA