HANOI, May 5 (Xinhua) -- With online shopping becoming the new normal, Vietnam's e-commerce market is forecast to increase by 25 percent to 20 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year, Vietnam News reported on Friday.
The e-commerce sector is driven by a series of growth factors such as the wave of digital transformation, consumers' trust, technological infrastructure, and favorable mechanisms and policies issued by the government, according to the Vietnam E-Business Index 2023.
With thousands of businesses nationwide, the e-commerce industry is expected to extend the growth rate of about 25 percent until 2025, said the Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM), adding that despite slowing growth in the first quarter of the year, Vietnam remains a promising market for e-commerce.
Much of Vietnam's e-commerce growth is driven by a high percentage of the population shopping on mobile devices. Nearly 75 percent of local internet users used online platforms to shop for a wide range of products, from cosmetics to electronic devices, according to the White Book on Vietnamese E-Business 2022.
Statistics show around 60 million consumers spend an average of between 260 and 285 U.S. dollars on e-commerce in Vietnam.
However, the size of the e-commerce market in Vietnam is still at an early fledgling stage, accounting for about 8.5 percent of the country's total retail sales of consumer goods and services of 5,680 trillion Vietnamese dong (240 billion U.S. dollars).
With Vietnamese people spending approximately seven hours a day online, mostly on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, but also on local chat app Zalo, local companies have managed to blend online sharing and shopping, especially on the TikTok social platform, said the e-commerce association.
A survey conducted by the association showed that up to 65 percent of businesses have put their goods on social networking platforms, especially through interactive live streams.
Although it is common practice to build websites and mobile applications to provide fast access for consumers, the e-commerce association noted the percentage of businesses building their own websites and mobile apps remained unchanged in recent years.
The rate of websites that integrate online interaction features reached 78 percent with half of them using Chabot, and the number of companies making websites more mobile-friendly on all kinds of screens and devices increased to 22 percent in 2022, the association found.
Despite the quality improvement of website services and mobile apps, selling on social networks and e-commerce platforms is considered the most efficient, according to surveyed businesses.
Vietnam's e-commerce market holds strong potential for growth following the government's policy push to boost the digital economy and increased adoption of cashless payments, said Nguyen Thanh Hung, chairman of VECOM.
The e-commerce growth in Vietnam is expected to reach a market value of 57 billion U.S. dollars by 2025, he added, citing a Google forecast. ■