The Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy organised a forum titled "Consumption tendency in Việt Nam: The future of online payments and consumption" in Hà Nội on Thursday. — Photo thuongtruong.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Online shopping has become more and more popular and received a lot of attention in the past five years, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy organised a forum titled "Consumption tendency in Việt Nam: The future of online payments and consumption" in Hà Nội on Thursday.

Đặng Thúy Hà, director of Nielsen in the northern region, said that there were four billion people connected to the internet worldwide this year with 30 per cent of retail sales done through electronic applications.

It is predicted that the global sharing economy will reach a value of US$300 billion by 2025.

Việt Nam's internet users will account for nearly 60 per cent of the population this year and 33 per cent of Vietnamese consumers will make direct money transfers online when shopping.

Commenting on the future of Việt Nam's retail industry, Đinh Thị Mỹ Loan, honourary Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Retailers' Association, said that now was the era of e-commerce.

The fourth industrial revolution was putting businesses in a race, said Loan.

Digital transformation is considered to be an irreversible trend, but many Vietnamese businesses fail due to incorrect understanding and not being ready with resources.

A survey by the Việt Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) showed that nearly 95 per cent of enterprises are aware of the importance of digital transformation.

However, 84 per cent of businesses fail to transform digitally and the application of new technology in businesses often fails.

That raises the question of where to start for a safe and efficient digital transformation journey and how to do it successfully.

Hoàng Quốc Quyền, a representative of Tiki, said that online payments and consumption were a trend all over the world.

Online payments and consumption would promote many areas of development, in which e-commerce contributes to transparency in management and convenience for consumers, he said.

However, online payments for consumption has not really achieved their potential.

In fact, of 4.5-5 million Tiki orders a month, the number of online payments accounted for only about 40 per cent, 60 per cent were in cash, said the representative.

In order for shoppers to be ready for cashless and online payments, Quyền noted that it was necessary to handle e-commerce floors which sell fake goods or goods with unknown origin.

Along with that, there should be strong measures to create trust for shoppers towards online payments.

Banks, payment gateways and telecommunication carriers need to create favourable conditions and have supporting policies for people to pay online; at the same time, creating a shared database to minimise risks for customers. — VNS