The number of Vietnamese people who shopped online in the last three months increased from 68.4 to 80.2 per cent, recording the second highest growth rate (11.8 per cent) in the Asia Pacific region, the survey revealed. — Photo thesaigontimes

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Online shopping in Viet Nam was continuing to increase and was well-positioned to hold the key to success for e-commerce in Viet Nam, according to the MasterCard Survey on Online Shopping 2014.

The MasterCard Survey is commissioned annually and was conducted online from October to December last year in 14 Asia Pacific countries and 11 Middle Eastern and African countries with a minimum of 500 respondents per country.

The number of Vietnamese people who shopped online in the last three months increased from 68.4 to 80.2 per cent, recording the second highest growth rate (11.8 per cent) in the Asia Pacific region, the survey revealed.

More than two-thirds said online shopping was one of the reasons to access the internet, up by 13.8 per cent from last year. Female respondents and 35-44 year olds remained the most likely to make purchases online, with 85.1 per cent and 86.5 per cent of them respectively having made at least one purchase in the last three months.

According to the survey, attitudes towards online shopping had not changed much, as Vietnamese shoppers still consider online reviews before purchasing (76.8 per cent), prefer a hotline number for enquiries (74 per cent) and tend to go to the same sites again (72 per cent).

The website's reputation (83.8 per cent), convenient payment methods (81 per cent) and exchange/return policies (81 per cent) remained the most important considerations for online shoppers. These were followed by price/value of items, security of payment and positive online reviews of products.

The satisfaction level of Vietnamese online shoppers rose by 7.4 per cent from last year, with 62.1 per cent respondents saying they were satisfied with online shopping. In addition, the number of respondents who indicated that they would make an online purchase in the next six month rose slightly to 93 per cent from 91.4 per cent last year, which is the second highest in the Asia Pacific region behind China (96.4 per cent).

Mobile commerce is also blossoming. Compared to previous years, more respondents made purchases through their mobile phones in the last three months, rising from 34.9 per cent in 2013 to 45.2 per cent in 2014.

"Online shopping in Viet Nam continues to experience significant growth and is shaping up to dethrone in-store shopping in the very near future," said Arn Vogels, country manager of MasterCard Indochina.

"Online shopping and mobile commerce are expected to continue to increase, which will bring about greater benefits and convenience for consumers while contributing to boosting non-cash payments in Viet Nam," he added. — VNS