Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), in collaboration with Can Tho City authorities, hosted an e-commerce forum on Friday, aimed at boosting online sales and business transactions in Cuu Long Mekong Delta.

The forum was attended by representatives of relevant ministries, sectors and businesses from Can Tho City and Cuu Long Delta.

At the forum, Nguyen Minh Ky, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s E-commerce and Information Technology Department, introduced participants to six key trends in e-commerce, including new internet-based business models, online checks while purchasing goods, ways to lead customers from social networks to websites and indirect selling methods.

Of the above-mentioned e-commerce trends, Ky said online marketing was challenging traditional marketing, resulting in businesses facing legal problems such as copyright and content disputes, taxes and internet crimes.

According to MoIT’s statistics, Viet Nam has some 52 million internet users and more than 35 million people using smartphones. Of these figures, some 48 per cent seek information to purchase goods through the websites and 27 per cent order goods on smartphones.

The ministry also reported the revenue of e-commerce transactions between businesses and consumers reached US$4.08 billion in 2015, marking a growth rate of 25-30 per cent.

To be successful in e-commerce, Ky said businesses needed to provide customers with good and necessary apps.

However, during the forum, many experts said most Vietnamese businesses, including those from Can Tho City, were not fully aware of the importance of e-commerce in boosting sales.

Deputy chairman of Can Tho People’s Committee Truong Quang Hoai Nam urged businesses to upgrade e-commerce apps in production and trade, develop their brand names with internet domains and build corporate websites linked with cloud technology.

At the forum, representatives of businesses said they would boost the application of e-commerce to expand the market, cut costs and reduce payment time. -- VNS