Online Friday 2019 is kicked off on Thursday evening. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

The Viet Nam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency kicked off the Online Friday 2019 and e-commerce and digital technology experience week in Ha Noi on Thursday evening

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said Online Friday was in its sixth year and had seen strong development and response from Vietnamese consumers as well as the business community.

The first national online shopping day in 2014 saw a modest transaction total of VND180 billion (US$7.7 million), said the minister.

However, the programme has developed with more than 3,000 participating businesses and 27,000 products introduced through online shopping programmes, as well as e-commerce experience weeks.

The turnover of the online shopping day reached more than VND2 trillion (nearly $86 million) last year with 1.8 million orders on the system of e-commerce and social networks.

Dang Hoang Hai, director of the Viet Nam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency, said Online Friday this year would offer an enhanced experience with a series of events taking place in the three most exciting parts of the three big cities, namely the walking street around Hoan Kiem Lake in Ha Noi, Nguyen Hue walking street in HCM City and the area around the Rong (Dragon) Bridge in Da Nang.

The spaces will offer booths of more than 65 e-commerce businesses and producers, music programmes and art shows, and games with special prizes from Thursday to Sunday.

Online Friday this year brings together many e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Sendo, Voso and Sanhangre; manufacturers such as Oppo, Habeco; and other distributors.

Some 50,000 items from more than 1,000 brands were launched with discounted prices up to 70 per cent.

The organisers expect strict quality control and the promotion to drive turnover for this year's Online Friday to exceed VND2.5 trillion ($107 million).

Companies in the fields of payment infrastructure, delivery and product origin verification and price comparison systems are also involved.

The event also kicks off the Ministry of Industry and Trade's nationwide programme titled 'Every Friday' offering goods starting from Friday on the website www.onlinefriday.vn and application Online Friday, downloaded from the iOS and Android. — VNS