VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese customers will often order 10 or more products online, but then only pay for one item because of a late change they make to their order.  

After ordering an Elmich thermos on Lazada, Bao, for example, unexpectedly found a similar product with better price advertised on another e-commerce website two days later. 

She immediately canceled the order with Lazada, though Lazada had dealt with the order and the product was on the way to be delivered to her.

In this transaction, Bao did not have to pay any kind of fee, though she canceled the order. Meanwhile, Lazada lost money twice for shipping – the fee to deliver the product and the fee to return it.

COD (cash on delivery), not online payment, is one of the biggest problems facing e-commerce service providers.

“In a developed e-commerce market, online payment must account for a high proportion,” said Le Duc Anh from the E-commerce and Information Technology Agency.

But online payment makes up a very modest proportion in Vietnam. The figure was 4 percent only for Online Friday 2015, which means that 96 percent of transactions were made under the COD mode. Analysts said the proportion would be even lower on ordinary days.

Anh said the modest proportion is a big problem for both retailers and shippers.

For retailers, COD payment causes bigger losses if they sell more products.

“In many cases, clients order many products, but only make payment for one. Meanwhile, retailers have to pay for the shipping of all the products,” he explained.

Deliverymen also don’t like COD. With online payment, they can fulfill the shipping task very quickly as they can leave goods at buyers’ neighbors or colleagues in case the buyers cannot be present at addresses given to retailers.

Meanwhile, with COD, deliverymen can fulfill the delivery task only if they can meet buyers, because they need to receive money for retailers. In most cases, they have to go here and there many times to find buyers.

An official of MOIT said that if commercial banks join the e-commerce playing field, they, with their huge resources, would help foster online payments, thus helping the development of the e-commerce market. 

Fifteen commercial banks registered for Online Friday, the biggest online shopping event. There are no unrealistic discounts, but products have good prices.

Commenting about the e-commerce market, Anh said the market is developing well, though many big brands such as Be Yeu, Deca and Lingo have had to leave the market.

Lazada reported that the number of orders it has received in 2016 has been six times higher than in 2014.

Chi Nam