Space for e-commerce businesses to continue to develop

Vietnam’s e-commerce sector is well placed to develop further in the time to come, a conference entitled “Developing the market for e-commerce enterprises in the context of digital transformation”, held on November 17 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Science and Technology, heard.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan told the gathering, e-commerce is forecast to continue to boom, creating new consumption trends.

In the e-Conomy SEA 2021 report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, Vietnam’s digital economy is expected to grow 31 per cent this year to $21 billion thanks to 53 per cent year-on-year growth in e-commerce and will then reach $57 billion in 2025.

The report also forecast that, by 2030, gross merchandise value in Vietnam’s digital economy will stand at $220 billion, ranking the country second in the region following Indonesia. There is clear potential for Vietnamese e-commerce businesses to grow in the future.

The rising proportion of the population with access to the internet will also help increase e-commerce revenue. From the start of the pandemic to the first half of 2021, Vietnam saw 8 million new digital consumers, of which 99 per cent intend to continue using online services, confirming the high level of attachment to digital products and services.

Vietnam remains an attractive innovation hub as global capital flows into technology sectors, including e-commerce. There are also many startups in the field.

Commenting on the future of e-commerce, analysts believe that digital transformation will help Vietnamese businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), seek a more flexible business model, both reducing costs and optimizing resources to overcome the difficulties posed by the pandemic.

Vietnam will also have to do more to fully exploit the potential of the online market, however. Analysts and businesses must contribute more ideas and solutions so that digital transformation can be realized in a more effective and substantive manner.