Illustrative image. (Photo: mmbiztoday.com)Hai Phong (VNA) – The northern port city of Hai Phong rankedthird in the 2017 e-Business Index (EBI), and though local infrastructure is allset for e-commerce, few companies are ready to trade online.
According to Deputy Director of the e-Commerce Centre at the municipalDepartment of Industry and Trade Le Duc Truong, some 22,000 businesses haveregistered to operate in the city but only 320 have e-commerce websitesregistered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
A recent survey in Hai Phong shows that 100 percent of local firms useemail and search for information on the internet, however, only 4.4 percent ofthem are on electronic trading platforms and 14.8 percent have e-commercewebsites, Truong said.
While there is a growing trend of mobile shopping, up to 89 percent ofthe companies have yet to develop a mobile commerce website and 95.2 percenthave yet to take part in mobile-based trading, he added.
Though smartphones are the most popular tool to make online purchasesin the city and more and more businesses accept card payments, most customersprefer cash.
To fully tap local e-commerce potential, Truong advised firms to bemore active in applying e-commerce and provide more solutions to help customersshop online, particularly in transportation and e-payment.
He also suggested local authorities help the firms solve difficultiesin this matter and play a greater role in promoting e-business.
Hai Phong is a high potential market with more than 2.1 million people,not to mention those living in neighbouring provinces of Thai Binh, Quang Ninhand Hai Duong who come to the city.
The city produced the most impressive growth in the overall e-businessdevelopment as the city’s EBT jumped from fifth to third place last year, behindonly HCM City and Hanoi, the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) announced atthe recent Vietnam Online Business Forum.
The EBI was firstpublished in 2012, aiming to evaluate the use of e-commerce and comparedevelopment among localities. The index is based on four criteria: informationtechnology infrastructure and human resources, transactions between businessesand customers (B2C), transactions between businesses and businesses (B2B) andtransactions between businesses and state agencies (G2B).-VNA
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