Online Business: Everything can be sold on the internet

Based on customer data registering to use the online sales platform, DKT evaluates online business trends in the first half of 2016.

Online food is king – it's time for everything to be sold on the internet

According to the aggregated data on the business lines of e-commerce websites using the Bizweb online sales platform, fashion, cosmetics and electronics are still the preferred product groups for online business for both sellers and buyers, with the number of e-commerce websites in this group accounting for 25.5% and 19.1%, respectively. Following is the group of websites related to industrial and office equipment. These are product groups that are easy to sell online through websites or e-commerce platforms, however, recent data shows that there is a gradual shift in the types of products that are preferred when doing business online.

The highlight in the first 6 months of 2016 was the food group, the proportion of websites providing this item through e-commerce doubled compared to the previous year. Specifically, in 2015, only more than 3% of DKT's customer businesses participated in providing food via the internet, but by 2016, the recorded number had increased to 7%.

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Food - especially fresh vegetables and fruits - is a group of products that are difficult to bring online due to preservation issues and consumers' direct purchasing habits. This trend partly comes from the story of clean and safe food, but at the same time, it is also considered a positive sign for Vietnamese e-commerce. In terms of production, the e-commerce cycle has been optimized to solve the problem of preserving and transporting products, shortening the process from the vegetable garden to the consumer. At the same time, in terms of consumption, e-commerce has reached the deepest corners of Vietnamese people's purchasing habits, maximizing the benefits that this model brings to customers.

Not only in the food industry, 2016 also witnessed the catch-up of traditional handicraft products. If a year ago, among the businesses using the Bizweb online sales platform, only 1% belonged to the handicraft product group. By 2016, the number had increased to 3%. This data proves that handicraft products, traditional Vietnamese products are being invested more in terms of brand as well as sales channels. E-commerce has contributed to promoting the development of this traditional product group.

Although the proportion of the food and handicraft industry is still quite low compared to the fashion or electronics groups, the positive changes of these product groups show that e-commerce is directly affecting areas that we previously thought were difficult to sell online. This opens up a 'blue ocean' for many businesses to develop their e-commerce market, not limited to one or a few specific products.

More than 73% of online business websites are concentrated in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Although e-commerce is demonstrating miraculous and increasingly widespread development in all areas of life, DKT's figures show that this development is uneven in localities across the country.

Of the 20,000 customers using the Bizweb online sales platform, more than 73% are businesses headquartered in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In the first 6 months of 2016, 44.1% of businesses registered on the Bizweb platform had their headquarters in Hanoi, the corresponding figure in Ho Chi Minh City was 29.5%. That means out of every 100 businesses with online business websites, 73 of them come from the two largest economic centers in the country. This figure has not changed much when compared to DKT's data in 2015 when the proportion of e-commerce websites with registered addresses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City was 75%.

Compared to the number of customers who learn about Bizweb through experiencing services on the homepage, out of more than 110,000 individuals/businesses recorded in the first 6 months of the year, more than 70% of customers come from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This shows that, right from the step of learning about e-commerce to serve business, there is a huge difference between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the remaining provinces.

The above data points to an important issue in the popularization of e-commerce in Vietnam. If the above situation continues, e-commerce will indirectly increase the difference in economic development levels in localities. However, from the perspective of providing the Bizweb online sales platform, DKT Technology Joint Stock Company believes that this is an opportunity for businesses in localities if they can take advantage of the opportunity when there is not much competition in provinces and cities across the country.

Evaluating the trend data of using the online sales platform Bizweb, Mr. Tran Trong Tuyen - CEO of DKT Technology Joint Stock Company said: "The data of the first half of 2016 shows that the goal of popularizing e-commerce has come a long way, deeply into our lives. The goal here is to bring the successful lessons in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to further develop in the remaining localities across the country"./.

According to VOV