Vietnam's e-commerce prospers

In online retail, the revenue growth rate was an impressive 35 percent. Some large-scale forwarding companies reported high growth rates of 62-200 percent in 2017. 

The online payment sector also reaped big fruits. According to the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), in 2017, the number of online transactions via domestic cards increased by 50 percent compared with 2016, while the transaction value increased by 75 percent.

As for online marketing, some firms reported growth rates of 100-200 percent, showing a strong rise of companies offering affiliate marketing services.

In tourism, bookings of hotel rooms via online travel agencies in 2017 accounted for 30 percent of total revenue, compared to 20 percent in 2016. 

The shared economy in tourism is taking shape via online exchanges. According to Kenneth Atkinson of Grant Thornton, 6,500 people signed up to use Airbnb as of June 2017.

Regarding the labor force, the survey found that firms lack workers qualified in information technology and e-commerce. Twenty-four percent of firms met difficulties in 2015, while the figure rose to 29 percent in 2016 and 31 percent in 2017.

Meanwhile, mobile-based business growth has slowed down. In 2017, the proportion of websites compatible with mobile devices did not increase, while the number of firms that have mobile app sales in 2017 accounted for 15 percent, the same as 2016.

Cross-border sale boom 

Gijae Seong, the head of the global sales division of Amazon Singapore in Vietnam, has not mentioned any possibility of Amazon's entry into the Vietnamese market. Instead, he has only said that Amazon would cooperate with VECOM to provide training courses to help Vietnamese sell goods globally through Amazon.

Recently, the community became familiar with a new B2C (business to customer) cross-border trading floor, Fado.vn, founded by Vietnamese. 

As a platform for promoting both imports and exports, Fado helps Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises export products directly to terminal consumers in foreign markets, and helps users buy goods from overseas.

In an effort to provide more channels to shop owners to sell goods abroad, Lazada Vietnam has revealed that it is developing new tools that help shop owners sell goods to South East Asian countries where Lazada does business.

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Mai Chi