Vietnam is regarded as one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia, said Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (IDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade at a workshop in Hanoi on October 18.

The nation has witnessed strong development in e-commerce which will give businesses more chances to bolster exports. Additionally, a large population of more than 90 million with high numbers of young people and internet users is seen as a catalyst for the country’s e-commerce market to keep growing in the time to come.

According to IDEA, the growth rate of business-to-consumer (B2C) retail sales via e-commerce expanded by 30% in 2018. With such an incessant high growth rate since 2015, the Southeast Asian nation is hoping that the B2C retail e-commerce sales will hit the target of US$10 billion next year.

Hai highlighted the much improved legal framework on e-commerce and noted that with mushrooming e-commerce platforms and accompanied services, e-commerce is now seen as a useful tool for businesses to take full of opportunities to make breakthroughs in exports.

In her marks, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, a specialist from IDEA underscored the rapid development of e-commerce transactions with nearly 40 million people shopping online in the country in 2018. Despite big revenue in this sector, it held only 4.2% of the total retail sales of goods and services last year.

There was an increase in transactions via mobile phones, Trang said, adding that roughly 92% percent of internet users have used mobile phones to access the internet, and 81% of the online shoppers have placed orders through mobile phones.

Only 44% of all businesses have used e-commerce, and 13% of them have used mobile apps.
Like e-commerce, exports have been playing an increasingly important role in the national economy.  More than 32% of Vietnam’s small and medium sized enterprises have set up business relations with foreign partners via online channels.

Business-to-business e-commerce platforms will help local exporters to gain direct and fast access to their customers and markets worldwide, she noted.