E-commerce: an inevitable integration trend

Vietnamese businesses now consider e-commerce an essential tool to increase their trade and expand markets (Photo: thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn)

The trend is forcing Vietnamese businesses to convert to digital platforms and boost advanced technological applications in e-commerce to improve competitiveness and penetrate into demanding markets worldwide.

Over the past decade, Vietnam's export turnover has quadrupled from 57 billion USD to 244 billion USD. E-commerce has contributed greatly to the achievement, especially in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution with many up-to-date technological applications for economic development.

Switching from traditional trading methods to digital platforms has become an increasingly popular trend and an effective solution for businesses to expand their export markets.

But statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that, to date, up to 61% of domestic businesses haven’t yet participated in e-commerce while 21% have begun initial preparations.

Tran Dinh Toan, Deputy Director General of OSB Investment and Technology Company, said a number of enterprises have recognized the great potential and benefits of e-commerce and have outlined plans to participate.

“Vietnamese businesses now consider e-commerce an essential tool to increase their trade and are ready to invest in e-commerce. These are two important elements in developing e-commerce strongly and sustainably. Enterprises should design professional e-commerce strategies in their business plans,” said Toan.

Economists say that in order to run e-commerce properly, businesses need to improve their awareness of digital tools and invest more in human resources by providing them with knowledge and skills on website operation, online sales and foreign language skills.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam E-Commerce Association, said: “E-commerce activities which are designed for export markets often bring in great opportunities. But to fully grasp the opportunities, it depends much on the businesses themselves. In the next 5 years, I expect e-commerce activities serving exports will quadruple against this year and the number of successful Vietnamese e-commerce enterprises will increase 400%.”

To further promote e-commerce, it’s also important to invest in e-commerce implementation plans, expand international cooperation, and improve management and organizational capacity.