E-commerce revenue in Vietnam is forecast to reach $2.1 billion this year and with annual growth of 6.5 per cent is expected to hit $4 billion in 2021, according to Statistic Portal.

The website also pointed out that Vietnam ranked eighth in Asia-Pacific in shopping on mobile devices in the fourth quarter of 2016, with 29 per cent of purchases. 

Leading was South Korea, with 55 per cent, then China with 41 per cent. 

Internet users in both Vietnam and China account for 53 per cent of the population.

Mobile devices dominate e-commerce in Asia-Pacific, according to Statistic Portal. Forty-six per cent of online sales are made on mobile devices, which is expected to reach 69 per cent by 2020.

Nonetheless, only 19 per cent of enterprises in Vietnam have developed websites that are compatible with mobile platforms, the Vietnam E-commerce Indicator Report 2017 from the Vietnam E-commerce Association revealed. 

The number is considered low for the market and its potential for growth.

Mr. Azhar Bin Adnan, Chief Marketing Officer at CMC Telecom, said that Vietnam has 43,000 base transceiver stations (BTS), meeting 95 per cent of demand. 

“4G will play an important role in accelerating transactions and the activities of internet users on the mobile platform thanks to fast access and on-demand adaption,” he told the Vietnam Online Marketing Forum in Ho Chi Minh City on August 15.

Marketing activities from e-commerce businesses has simultaneously opened up new promotion channels, Mr. Bin Adan went on. 

“Many Vietnamese enterprises are slowly adopting information technology or applying fourth industrial revolution operating systems such as mobile platform apps and websites, and cloud computing,” he said.

CMC is the only telecoms infrastructure unit in Vietnam to apply a one-stop-shop, which integrates traditional internet channels with high-quality added value such as cloud computing and security services (IBM’s business process outsourcing in security), to build a comprehensive ICT ecosystem for e-commerce businesses. 

In July, it was the first internet service provider firm to connect with a global e-commerce giant.

In terms of mobile business trends in the future, Mr. Bin Adan believes that besides traditional marketing methods such as SMS Brandname, MMS, and social media, Location Based Services will be an outstanding marketing trend. 

“To build good and stable communication channels and to analyze customers’ data quickly and effectively, e-commerce firms need professional information technology infrastructure,” he said.

The Vietnam Online Marketing Forum 2017 is an official marketing event and was organized in Vietnam for the second time on August 15 in Ho Chi Minh City and August 17 in Hanoi.

The event caught the attention of CMC Telecom, a member of the CMC Group. CMC Telecom was voted one of 25 most promising telecom solution providers in Asia-Pacific by CIO Outlook, an information technology and telecom magazine. 

It is a now an exclusive partner of IBM in business process outsourcing in security in Vietnam, and a first-tier supplier in cloud computing for Microsoft in Vietnam.

VN Economic Times