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E-commerce goes Offline ?! 21/08/2015
In developed countries, technology applications are focused to develop
online E-commerce; meanwhile in Vietnam, enterprises try to find
offline solutions besides online ones to meet customers’ needs. COD
(Cash On Delivery) and Point of Sale (POS) are two of those offline
solutions of E-commerce companies.
The reason for it is because not many Vietnamese people have credit
cards or if they have one, they are afraid of frauds and personal
information being stolen. Besides, The majority of Vietnamese
consumers prefer to see the product before paying for it.
Therefore, in order to develop online payment, every enterprise needs
to earn customers’ trust by making sure that the payment process is
swift and secured; goods must be of satisfactory quality and delivery
must be on time.
From E-commerce to M-commerce. 06/08/2015
A report carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that the
Vietnamese market had great potential for developing mobile e-
commerce. With a growing number of users accessing to the internet on
mobile devices, it is expected to boom this year.
E-commerce has played an important role in businesses' activities during
recent years. Viet Nam is entering a "golden period" for e-commerce
development, based on the mobile phone sector.
The habit of using smartphones is replacing PC or laptops, leading to the
development of mobile e-commerce. And the rapid development of e-
commerce in Viet Nam, especially on mobile devices, has forced policy
makers to revamp their thoughts and management models to create a
sustainable foundation for its growth. Solutions should be developed for
the use of technologies and trade practices to help users access such
new technologies.
COD (Cash On Delivery) is the greatest hindrance of E-Commerce. 20/05/2015
Like other emerging markets, Vietnam is on the cusp of a shift from
traditional retail to e-commerce, but consumers’ preference for cash
over credit cards may hamper growth in E-commerce.
Vietnamese preferable payment is cash due to the fact that most of
the people are unbanked citizens, or even if they have credit cards,
they still choose COD as a method of payment when online shopping.
Low trust in dealing with online purchasing is one of the issues that
make people prefer COD than online payment.
COD is a less efficient model than online payment because of the
expenses involved in physically collecting cash, higher rejection rates
and longer turnaround time to receive money. It also locks up working
capital and increases risk exposure. That’s the greatest hindrance of e-
commerce companies.
Motorcycles, bicycles are slowing down the development of E-commerce in Vietnam. 23/08/2015
Most of Vietnamese people prefer choosing motorbikes and bicycles to
go shopping or buy groceries as a traditional channel of Vietnamese
shoppers. Shoppers still have a habit of browsing websites online
looking for the cheapest store then going directly to the store instead of
purchasing online.
Many e-commerce companies have to spend a lot of money for
advertisement and promotional programs to earn trust from customers
as well as to encourage people to shop online instead of going to stores
by motorbikes.
‘Meet Magento’ in Vietnam. 24/08/2015
Supported by Magento Inc, Meet Magento, which has taken place in
more than 16 countries all over the world since 2009, is a forum for
enthusiasts of eCommerce platform Magento, merchants and service
providers to get independent information about Magento and e-
commerce and build mutually-beneficial relationships. This is the first
time the event is held in Vietnam as well as in Asia.
eCommerce platform Magento, which debuted in 2008, is used by 25
per cent of online businesses worldwide and boasts over $25 billion in
transaction volume each year. Vietnam, which has a population of
about 90 million, one third of which access the Internet regularly, is
considered a very potential market for eCommerce.
By the end of 2015, Magento platform will officially have the
Vietnamese language supported for E-commerce companies. In 2016,
Magento version 2 will be updated with more attractive features.
Google introduces cloud platform to Vietnamese start-ups. 26/08/2015
Google and Gimasys introduced the Google Cloud Platform to
Vietnamese start-ups on August 26, especially those operating in e-
commerce. At the seminar, representatives from Google introduced
the Google Cloud Platform and Big Data to participants, saying that
many start-ups had applied Google Cloud Platforms and developed
rapidly. The notable feature of the Google Cloud Platform is
scalability, which means ‘use as per demand and pay as you use'. This
feature is very advantageous to e-commerce start-ups, helping them
to serve customers better.
During the recent years, Google and VINCOM actively implemented
different seminars and events aimed at supporting Vietnamese
companies applying technology applications in their business through
Google cloud platform with many features such as: Computing,
Storage, Networking, Big Data, etc.
The official announcement of Online Friday 2015 16/07/2015
‘Online Friday 2015’ will be on Friday, December 4, 2015, and will
address hot issues in e-commerce as Start-up investment, the
construction of confidence of consumers with online purchase, the
appliance of e-commerce in mobile platform, digital tourism…
In order to promote e-commerce in mobile platform, improve the
benefit of purchasing for consumers and expand opportunities of brand
promotion for enterprises, this year will have Autumn Online Shopping
Day on Friday August 28, 2015.
The target of this event is bringing the high quality promotions
including real and deep discount; trustworthy support services with
free delivery, and delivery on time; simple and easy payment service
with utilities of bank. This year all websites selling products in website
Online Friday, must already registered with MOIT to protect the right of
consumers and the credibility of enterprises.
ASEAN ECOMMERCE CHALLENGES August 03, 2015
The drivers of ecommerce in ASEAN are a growing middle class, higher
smartphone and internet penetration, growing number of ecommerce
players, more logistics options, and alternative payment methods.
However, there are key challenges that an ecommerce player is likely to
face – managing customer expectations and perception related to speed
and reliability of delivery and online payment fraud, cross-border issues
related to custom duties, taxes, logistics and corruption, lack of low cost and reliable logistics infrastructure
designed for ecommerce, and each country’s own regulations related to ecommerce and foreign ownership.
Also, there are certain commonalities in the emerging ASEAN countries. Most ecommerce payments are based on
cash on delivery, a large percentage of orders come from outside of the capital cities, and a lot of discovery
happens on social and messaging platforms. [Read more in EN]
CHINA, ASEAN EXPLORES COOPERATION IN E-COMMERCE September 07, 2015
China and ASEAN countries will explore cooperation in e-commerce
during the 12th China-ASEAN Expo lasting from Sept 18 to 21 in Nanning,
capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
More than 500 political and business leaders as well as experts from
China and 10 ASEAN countries will join the China-ASEAN e-commerce
summit, scheduled from Sept. 18 to 19, on the sidelines of the expo.
Executives from China's e-commerce giants including Alibaba and JD.com
are also expected to make an appearance.
The summit will center around four topics -- "China, ASEAN Internet plus
new economy", "China, ASEAN cross-border e-commerce new base",
"Prospect of China, ASEAN economic and trade information sharing harbor", and "New opportunities of China,
ASEAN innovation and business startups". A cooperation memorandum regarding the construction of China-
ASEAN cross-border e-commerce platforms is also expected to be signed during the summit. [Read more in EN]
SOUTHEAST ASIAN CONSUMERS SWITCH TO E-COMMERCE August 06, 2015
Economies across Southeast Asian countries have managed to show
weaker growth this year but not e-commerce. In fact, SE Asian consumers
are showing strong signs of switching to e-commerce.
Growing numbers of online consumers inspire various startup e-
commerce groups in Southeast Asia and various International information
technology companies are also joining the field. [Read more in EN]
The online retail market in the
“big six” ASEAN nations –
Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Vietnam, and
Thailand – is currently worth
around US$7 billion.
UBER TO BECOME AN E-COMMERCE GROUP IN INDONESIA August 03, 2015
Uber, the ride-hailing app, is coming to Indonesia as an e-commerce
group in an attempt to sidestep the regulation and taxes rival taxi
operators. The company announced this plan.
According to Alan Jiang, the acting country head of Uber, the company is
submitting an application to Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board
for their desire to establish the business as a foreign-owned entity that
will be registered as an "Internet portal".
Currently, Uber operates in a regulatory grey area in Indonesia and
working through representative office in Jakarta. With this move of
establishing their company as e-commerce group, the company would sidestep demands that it must register for a
taxi license, which would make them comply with the same rules on taxation and tariffs faced by other local taxi
operators. Whether or not they are running away from legal actions, Uber is definitely one potential big player to
enter the e-commerce industry in Indonesia. [Read more in EN]
5 ECOMMERCE TRENDS THAT ARE SURE TO BOOM IN INDONESIA September 04, 2015
Thanks to its 250 million population, anyone who is able to win the
e-commerce game in Indonesia has already conquered 40 percent
of Southeast Asia. This makes it the ideal spot to start an e-
commerce empire. Here are upcoming e-commerce trends that will
dictate where the market will be in the next few years:
1. Merchants selling in multiple online channels seamlessly.
It’s pretty tough to use all the available options to sell online in Indonesia.
Merchants who use multiple channels in Indonesia have to keep a very
close eye on their inventories and SKUs. They also need to deal with
incoming messages on different platforms. In the end, merchants need to
prioritize the channels which work best for them, and shut down all the
others.
2. More ways for shoppers to get the lowest prices.
Thanks to the internet, there are many ways shoppers in Indonesia can find the best online deals out there. They can use
price comparison platforms then take up the lowest price guarantees offered by major e-shops. Indonesian players would be
wise to pay attention to such innovative solutions offered abroad, and find ways to adopt them for the local market.
3. Logistics services 2.0
Indonesians one day will be pampered with a slew of logistics options and technology. Sellers will no longer need to queue in
long lines just to send that product, but to wait for pickups at designated places instead such. Logistics services will have an
adequate back-end system which integrates with various e-shops. Buyers will be able to have more options for same day-
delivery services.
4. Rapid mobile money adoption
Indonesia will become the second biggest mobile money user in the world. Much of this claim stems from how the
government plans to distribute direct cash subsidies to underprivileged people via electronic money. If all goes according to
plan, about 15 million underprivileged people in Indonesia will have adopted e-money by the end of this year.
5. Merchants selling anonymously
Indonesian internet users has risen to
150% a year over the past decade to
reach 90 million. This figure is expected
to reach 150 million by 2019.
There will come a time when someone tries to provide such a platform, where merchants can sell products at whatever price
they wish, anonymously in a private ecosystem. In return, buyers will also get the best possible deals as merchants no longer
hesitate to offer lower price tags. Naturally, the platform will need to handpick all the merchants who get to be anonymous in
order to guarantee all listings are legitimate. [Read more in EN]
THAILAND HEADS EBAY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
July 24, 2015
Thailand remains at its position as eBay's largest market in Southeast Asia
all thanks to the support to various Thai products and appreciation of the
US dollar, according to eBay Thailand. eBay has established its presence in
Thailand in 2009. And according to the Marketing team, Thailand is eBay's
largest online retailer in Southeast Asia in terms of sellers and trade value.
Ekachai Rukachantarakul, head of eBay Marketing Thailand, said that they
are encouraging Thai small and medium exporters to use the marketplace
to expand export opportunities. eBay Thailand would join forces with
other successful retailers to encourage other companies to use its marketplace. 13% of Thai retailers joining eBay's
marketplace could generate sales revenue of $10,000a year. [Read more in EN]
Philippines smartphone
penetration is expected to more
than triple to 50 percent by 2015.
PHILIPPINES, WITH 100M POPULATION, SEEN PERFECT FOR ONLINE COMMERCE September 6, 2015
For the Philippines, online business booms because of the big market
coupled with people seeking to avoid the horrendous daily city traffic
when they go out of their homes to buy their choices for bags, shoes,
shorts, slippers and even lipstick.
The trend where people can buy anything they want without leaving will
continue to thrive given that traffic and lack of public transport vehicles are expected to worsen.
Being a tech savvy nation, the Philippines is haven for online shopping/trading. The surge in cellphone users, in
recent years only proves that a lot of Filipinos spend more time browsing the net via their cell phones than
actually go to mall to choose their favorite clothes.
The Philippines has 100 million population. The rate of increasing cell phone users is faster than the rate of
population. That’s why many online business are now here people can enjoy it anytime they want, no limit after
all. [Read more in EN]
VIETNAM: E-COMMERCE GROWING ON MOBILE PLATFORM September 04, 2015
At a recent workshop on e-commerce apps for mobile phones held in Ho
Chi Minh City, Mr. Tran Huu Linh, Director of the Vietnam E-commerce and
Information Technology Agency (VECITA) under the Ministry of Industry and
Trade said that e-commerce is thriving with the rise of digital technology.
“The e-commerce model is no longer limited to computer platforms but is
developing strongly on the mobile phone platform as well,” he said. “This
will be the main trend for e-commerce over the next five years.”
A VECITA report pointed out that 34 per cent of Vietnam’s population, or
more than 30 million people, now access the internet on their mobile
phone. One-third of the spent time online is on a mobile phone. All
transactions, from procurement and payment to information exchange, are
being conducted on mobile phones. E-commerce enterprises are therefore
actively transferring from the computer to the mobile platform to stay abreast of consumer trends. [Read more in
EN]
34% of Vietnam’s population,
or more than 30 million
people, now access the
internet on their mobile
phone.
ALIBABA LAUNCHES NEW DATA CENTRE IN SINGAPORE August 06, 2015
After investing millions in SingPost, Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce
market, is now introducing a new data centre in Singapore that will give e-
commerce in Southeast Asia a further push.
Alibaba made announcement last August 19 regarding the major new
cloud data centre and a 'headquarters of international business' in
Singapore. This is a follow-up investment in SingPost, an investment worth
US$456 Million.
Alibaba's data centres power its own services as well as third-party clients and because of this, the cloud centre
can be considered a giant, giving a warning and signs that Alibaba has even greater e-commerce ambitions for
Southeast Asia than its original intent. [Read more in EN]
SINGAPORE: RIDING HIGH ON THE E-COMMERCE WAVE September 03, 2015
Singapore is riding high on the global online shopping wave, with e-commerce sales hitting US$3 billion (S$4.2
billion) last year, according to statistics from PayPal. But e-commerce retailers are not the only ones reaping the
rewards. Associated industries such as software and logistics are seeing a corresponding surge in business as well.
For example, from 2009 to 2013, the number of logistics establishments grew from 7,169 to 7,606, according to
Spring Singapore. As a result, many companies have sprung up in such sectors or re-oriented themselves to take
advantage of the market opportunities. [Read more in EN]
MALAYSIA’S E-COMMERCE LANDSCAPE HEADING TOWARDS MATURITY September 01, 2015
The e-commerce market landscape in Malaysia has evolved over the last
five years with a more matured infrastructure such as payment systems
and Internet penetration today to support its continued growth. However,
the Malaysian e-commerce market is still very much in its infancy stage
considering its potentials and will continue to grow.
Malaysian e-commerce market accounts for just two per cent of total
retail market which is considerably low comparing to many other
advanced e-commerce markets (such as Korea with approximately 15 per cent of ecommerce penetration rate).
Malaysian e-commerce market will grow by more than 700 per cent in the next five to 10 years. To facilitate this
growth, it is very important for e-commerce service providers to offer training and development programs to
support local sellers in starting online business. [Read more]
OOREDOO-BACKED E-COMMERCE FIRM EXPANDING IN MYANMAR September 3, 2015
Myanmar is one central focus country for German e-commerce
incubator Rocket Internet, which cooperates with Qatar’s telecom
giant Ooredoo in launching Internet businesses throughout Asia.
The two companies, via their joint venture Asia Pacific Internet
Group, have already successfully set up no fewer than six e-
commerce startups in the country.
The many new Internet ventures by Asia Pacific Internet Group in
Myanmar are built upon the expectation that e-commerce is about
to experience a massive boom in the country which is just in an
early cycle of “getting connected” after it opened up to the outside
world only a few years ago when there was literally no Internet or
mobile data infrastructure, at least for the common people.
While currently still not more than approximately 5% of the 53
million-population are online and prospects for e-commerce seem
to look tough, this rate is expected to go through the roof once
firms such as Ooredoo will have rolled out their mobile broadband
network and provide the necessary infrastructure. [Read more]
97% of Myanmar’s population will
have access to the company’s 3G
network by 2018.
38 million internet users in
Myanmar as early as by 2016.
CAMBODIA SEEING E-COMMERCE GROW DUE TO MORE ACCESS TO INTERNET August 9, 2015
Investors have turned their eyes to the e-commerce sector in Cambodia
as more people in the Southeast Asian nation have access to the
Internet, businessmen and commerce officials say.
Cheat Thilong, a marketing officer with a Phnom Penh-based shopping
website Shop168, which was launched more than two years ago, said e-
commerce outlets are mushrooming here due to the increasing
numbers of Internet users. "Two years ago, there were only a few
business-to-customer (B2C) shopping websites in Cambodia, but now
the number has reached almost 20," he said.
According to Sear Rithy, chairman of Worldbridge International Group
(WIG), the development of online shopping platforms still have a way to
go here because most Cambodian people do not trust the online
outlets, they worry that the companies will provide them products that
don't reflect what they want.
Speaking about tax payment for online products, he said because there
is currently no e-commerce law, both online and offline products are treated in the same way and taxes at that
the same level are required to be paid. Cambodia is working to develop an e-commerce system, but a time frame
for completing this work is still unknown because it is a new approach of business for Cambodia. [Read more in
EN]
5 million of the nearly 15-million
population in Cambodia have
obtained access to the Internet as
of 2014, most of whom get online
via smart phones.