45 million Vietnamese people shop online

Shopping online

Nearly 45 million Vietnamese people now access online shopping, a forum on domestic consumption trends on August 20 in Hanoi.
The Government aims to have 55% of Vietnam's population shopping online by 2025, with revenues estimated at USD 35 billion, according to VOV.

The goal is perfectly feasible given the support coming from the Government, ministries, departments, and businesses. Some 44.8 million people, or nearly half the population, shopped online last year, a 13 percent rise from the previous year.

Each person spent an average of USD 225 on online purchases last year, 40 percent up from the USD 160 in 2015, according to the report by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency that the Ministry of Industry and Trade released last week.
77 percent of Internet users, mostly in the 18-25 age group, shopped online at least once last year, up 7 percentage points from 2018, reported by VnExpress.

More than 60 percent of online purchases involved clothing, footwear, cosmetics, tech and electronic goods, household appliances, and audio-visual equipment. Purchases on social media grew by 57 percent in 2019 despite the growing fears of scams and phishing.

According to an e-commerce development plan approved by the government last month, the revenues should reach USD 35 billion by 2025 to account for 10 percent. The government wants 55 percent of the population to shop online by 2025.
But cash remained the most preferred payment method at 86 percent, followed by cards (56 percent) and e-wallets (20 percent). Online retail revenues surged 25 percent to USD 10.08 billion last year, accounting for 4.9 percent of the country's total spending on goods and services.

Participants at the forum suggested making it easier for e-commerce enterprises to access capital to join online supply chains for Made-in-Vietnam goods. It is also necessary to have policies for online payments and for guaranteeing the security of customers' personal data.

A representative from Nielsen Vietnam said that the number of internet users in Vietnam is expected to reach about 60% of the country's population this year, and 33% of Vietnamese consumers will make online payment while shopping.