TheMasterCard Survey is commissioned annually and was conducted onlinefrom October to December 2014 in 14 Asian-Pacific countries and 11Middle Eastern and African countries with a minimum of 500 respondentsper country.
The number of Vietnamese people who shopped onlinein the last three months increased from 68.4 to 80.2 percent, recordingthe second highest growth rate (11.8 percent) in the Asia-Pacificregion, the survey revealed.
More than two-thirds said onlineshopping was one of the reasons to access the Internet, up by 13.8percent from last year. Female respondents and 35-44 years old remainedthe most likely to make purchases online, with 85.1 percent and 86.5percent of them respectively having made at least one purchase in thelast three months.
According to the survey, attitudes towardsonline shopping had not changed much, as Vietnamese shoppers stillconsider online reviews before purchasing (76.8 percent), prefer ahotline number for enquiries (74 percent) and tend to go to the samesites again (72 percent).
The website's reputation (83.8percent), convenient payment methods (81 percent) and exchange/returnpolicies (81 percent) remained the most important considerations foronline shoppers. These were followed by price/value of items, securityof payment and positive online reviews of products.
Thesatisfaction level of Vietnamese online shoppers rose by 7.4 percentfrom last year, with 62.1 percent respondents saying they were satisfiedwith online shopping. In addition, the number of respondents whoindicated that they would make an online purchase in the next six monthrose slightly to 93 percent from 91.4 percent last year, which is thesecond highest in the Asia-Pacific region behind China (96.4 percent).
Mobilecommerce is also blossoming. Compared to previous years, morerespondents made purchases through their mobile phones in the last threemonths, rising from 34.9 percent in 2013 to 45.2 percent in 2014.
"Onlineshopping in Vietnam continues to experience significant growth and isshaping up to dethrone in-store shopping in the very near future," saidArn Vogels, country manager of MasterCard Indochina.
"Onlineshopping and mobile commerce are expected to continue to increase, whichwill bring about greater benefits and convenience for consumers whilecontributing to boosting non-cash payments in Vietnam," he added.-VNA