 E-commerce has proved to be an increasingly useful tool for enterprises to surmount difficulties and grasp chances (Illustrative photo: VNA) |
How is your view on the recent growth of e-commerce in Vietnam?
The e-commerce indexes in recent years, as you said in your introduction, show that most e-commerce activities take place in Hanoi and HCMC, the two largest cities in Vietnam which account for 18% of the total population but more than 70% of the country’s e-commerce transactions. That ratio remained constant throughout the 2016-2019-period. The scale of e-commerce in rural, remote and isolated areas is very small. More than 70% of Vietnamese people live in rural areas. In order to develop e-commerce sustainably, it’s necessary to design products and services for small and medium cities.
The pandemic has changed consumption habits. Shopping online and doing e-transaction have become popular now. How do service providers change to meet customers’ demand?
Customer satisfaction is the key factor in the success of any business. Every business wants to know what customers are thinking so they can offer the right products and services. Digital transformation has been taking place on a large scale, from businesses selling goods on trading floors to small traders selling commodities in traditional markets, an area that e-commerce hasn’t been able to reach over the past 5 years. The current rapid digital transformation has been driven by the pandemic and by the readiness of solution providers. There are many new technologies focusing on the user experience and behavior assessment.
Could you give us some specific examples?
For example, there are many platforms that can reach online-to-offline touchpoints of customers and methods that combine the online and offline experience. I think the current technology has met and, in the future, will easily deal with sudden changes to the e-commerce market caused by things like the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that we have files of customer information, our mission is to create an online environment similar to the offline format to give customers the same experience. We have successfully developed the metaphor of a virtual shopping cart, for example, into which online customers can put what they buy. It’s time for new payment methods. In the past, we could pay by card. Now we only need to do a bank transfer. That is a new user experience. Now we have a lot of e-wallets. Last March the Prime Minister approved a pilot application of mobile money. This is a way for rural consumers to engage in e-commerce activities.
 Hoang Viet Tien, Head of Strategic Advisory of Insider Group |
How can technology platforms help e-commerce businesses be more customer-centric?
I think technology is just technology. It’s a tool. The important thing is people. The key is the attitude of business heads, what we call business ethics, in deciding what products and services are suitable for the market. According to a survey conducted last year by Accenture, an Ireland-based multinational professional services company specializing in IT services and consulting, 83% of customers are interested in a personalized experience; 56% are very willing to exchange their personal data for membership points; 60% want to receive discount coupons; and 53% want other promotion programs. But businesses need to be transparent about their plans to use customer data in these campaigns, and customers should be allowed to monitor the process and know how their personal data is being used.
To be user-centric, businesses need to acquire and optimize basic platforms like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), marketing automation, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to enhance the user experience, measure user behavior, personalize customer interactions, and receive continuous feedback from customers to optimize their interactions day by day. The mission of technology is to shorten the distance between the company’s boss and his customers, not to ensure the quality of the products or services. Whether a product or service is acceptable or not depends on the feedback of the customers, which allows the company’s leader to decide whether or not to improve the product or service.
Vietnamese consumers are very worried about the possibility of fraud in online shopping. This concern is inhibiting the growth of e-commerce. What can e-commerce businesses do to address the issue?
In the digital age, customer information becomes a tool to increase the competitiveness of a business. By collecting and analyzing customer data, businesses can understand the needs and buying habits of their customers, develop relationships with the customers, and identify new business opportunities. Enterprises need to strictly abide by the Law on Cybersecurity and Decree 52 on e-commerce to secure user information and make end-users understand that they have the primary responsibility to protect themselves. Protecting themselves helps state policy management agencies limit the risks to users who provide their personal data online.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with VOV5’s Digital Life! That was Hoang Viet Tien, Head of Strategic Advisory of Insider Group.