Retailers invest in tech as contactless payments become a trend

With contactless payment becoming increasingly common in Ho chi Minh City due to people’s fear of COVID-19, retail firms are investing more and more in digital infrastructure.
Retailers invest in tech as contactless payments become a trend ảnh 1A customer buys food at Grove Fresh store via an online screen (Photo: vir.com.vn)
HCM City (VNS/VNA) - With contactless payment becoming increasinglycommon in Ho chi Minh City due to people’s fear of COVID-19, retail firms areinvesting more and more in digital infrastructure.

The first Vietnamese digital platform for retail necessities, G Market, waslaunched in HCM City by Grove Fresh Group in collaboration with the cityDepartment of Industry and Trade.

It offers over 10,000 key necessities through a close-ended‘Farm-Factory-Hub-Door’ process.

Goods are selected from qualified farms and factories (Farm-Factory) andtransported to and stored in ideal temperature conditions at a specialisedwarehouse system (Hub).

There they are checked, screened and packed, and delivered by staff tocustomers (Door).

A Grove Fresh spokesperson said for each order placed on www.gmarket24h.com,customers would be given a unique code, and they could use it at the smartautomatic warehouse to pick up their goods if they want.

Customers can also shop in stores without making direct contact with staff byusing pre-arranged instruction boards and an online-connected screen.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, general director of Grove Fresh Group, said four tonnes ofmany essential items such as meat, fish, eggs, rice, fruits, and vegetables aresold every day.

Since the fourth COVID-19 outbreak began in April, Grove Fresh Group haspartnered with the city to supply goods.

It is expected that in mid-January it will launch a 24/7 vending machine toserve customers for Tet (Lunar New Year).

Companies are focusing on investing in infrastructure and technology fornon-cash payments, especially electronic payments, with improved quality,meeting the increasing demands of consumers.

The prolonged lockdowns that kept people at home and the fear of contractingCOVID-19 have accelerated consumers’ preference for digital transactions.

According to the surveys, 67 percent of consumers said they would like to usecontactless payments wherever applicable.

Besides, financial institutions have been competing to develop the best digitalplatforms for customers through apps that are secure, user-friendly and fullyintegrated.

Nguyen Anh Duc, general director of Saigon Co.op, said the rate of cashlesspayment at Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food, and Co.op Smile increased sharply inrecent years to nearly 21 percent last year.

It targets 30 percent within three to four years, he said.

Saigon Co.op has been collaborating with various companies to deploy a seriesof new payment services and applications based on tech platforms that offermore convenience to customers shopping at its over 800 stores, he added.

Multiple factors have caused this surge in cashless payments including theimpact of telecommunications, which has eliminated the “strangeness” consumersused to feel about cashless payments, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which acted asa catalyst.

Others include the improved infrastructure for connecting retailers and paymentservice providers and legal mechanisms to protect customers, which hasincreased their trust in the safety of digital payments.

AppotaPay forecast the cashless payment market would grow strongly in the nextthree to five years, with mobile money and e-wallets becoming key to expandingnon-cash payments.

A recent report by the Government said cashless payments topped 36.28quadrillion VND (1.6 billion USD) in the first nine months of this year,including 13.5 quadrillion VND via mobile phones, the latter representing a93.69 percent increase.

The growth was led by digital wallets, contactless payments and QR codepayments.

Contactless cards led the way in the food and dining category, with 67 percentof consumers using them in 2020 for bill payments (71 percent), retail shopping(58 percent) and supermarket shopping (57 percent).

Vietnamese consumers have quickly adopted new ways of paying that do notinvolve physical contact such as tapping to pay./.
VNA

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