An employee scans and checks products in a Tiki warehouse in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: Bloomberg) Crossing the crowded streets of Ho Chi Minh City in a Honda, Ho Duc Quang carries toys, books and other packages to deliver to Tiki.vn customers. Quang, 25, needs to be quick, as Tiki promises to deliver in 2 hours. He uses AirPods to notify customers of his arrival, but there is one thing that slows down this shipper: Quang has to wait for customers to open the package, confirm the correct goods before departing for the next trip. It is a mandatory operation for those who do not trust online sellers. Quang’s speedy deliveries between the city of 9 million people are just part of a campaign to win over customers, many of whom shop online for the first time due to the pandemic. Winning isn’t easy where only about a third of adults have a bank account and less than 5% have a credit card. Most shopping at convenience stores, traditional markets. Although Euromonitor International estimates that e-commerce will only account for 3% of Vietnam’s retail market in 2020, the lowest in Southeast Asia, the potential of the market is extremely attractive. According to a report by Google, Temasek, Bain & Co, Vietnam’s digital economy is predicted to reach US$52 billion by 2025, an increase of 29% compared to 2020. Competition for customers Startups backed by Warburg Pincus, Goldman Sachs, JD.com or Shopee, Amazon are all targeting the Vietnamese middle class. From 2016 to the first half of 2020, investors poured $1.9 billion into the domestic online sector. Mr. Ralf Matthaes, Managing Director of Infocus Mekong Research, assessed that Vietnam is in the early stages of becoming a digital society with a young and technology-loving population. Therefore, these companies have to compete with each other to provide services. The government has set a target of online shopping to account for 10% of Vietnam’s retail sales by 2025. The regulator wants to reduce cash payments to create a more transparent, modern economy through increased non-payment of transactions. cash for public services and improve the regulatory framework for electronic payments. The consortium led by Alibaba and Baring Private Equity Asia will invest $400 million in exchange for a 5.5% stake in CrownX of Masan retail group. Under the agreement, Masan will cooperate with Lazada – Alibaba’s e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. Kenny Ho, Southeast Asia Investment Director of Alibaba, affirmed that the combination of Alibaba’s online retail expertise, Lazada’s Vietnam platform, and Masan’s offline network will be a powerful catalyst for the company’s success. modernization of Vietnam’s retail market. In January, M-Service, the startup behind the Momo e-wallet, raised more than $100 million from an investment group, including Warburg Pincus. For the first time in their shopping life, Vietnamese people are “encircled” by the form of customer-first retailing that is common in developed economies. Trust of customers Online retailers are trying to woo shoppers wary of scam stores that don’t offer return policies. According to economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, “Vietnamese people don’t trust what they can’t see. Usually, they need to know what they’re buying. They have to smell it and touch it.” So e-commerce sites raced to launch marketing campaigns, offering discounts on everything from AirPods to Samsung washing machines. E-wallet startup that offers coupons. Tiki applies a refund policy of up to 30 days. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, 31, who works for an entertainment website, said that 70% off and customer-oriented items attract her. Buyers are empowered to evaluate products and services online. If normal, they often have to go to the store complaining about the low quality of the product and there may be quarrels but nothing is corrected. According to Mr. Matthase, the epidemic will boost digital retail as 30% more Vietnamese will shop for everything from food to electronics online in 2020. Retail shifting According to Jeffrey Perlman, managing director of Warburg Pincus in Singapore, Vietnam’s retail market changes faster than other markets. Tiki is currently the largest domestic e-commerce platform in the country. Software engineer Tran Ngoc Thai Son built Tiki in 2010 from $5,000. Mr. Son writes code, buys 100 English books from Amazon, and delivers it by himself by motorbike. Currently, Tiki has 3,100 employees and a state-of-the-art logistics operations system overseen by Henry Low, former head of Amazon and Coupang. Along with the company’s growth is the effort to attract customers. Mr. Son deployed a system to filter counterfeit goods and sided with customers. For example, if there is a defect in a newly purchased phone, the customer wants to return it, they will support 100%. If the seller is not okay with this decision, Tiki will shut down their account. From diapers to beer According to Crunchbase, investors like Sumitomo, JD.com have invested $192.5 million in Tiki. Mr. Son anticipates more rounds of funding and prepares for an IPO. According to Mr. Low, Tiki handles less than 2 million orders per month. Employees busy arranging everything from diapers and diapers to Corona beer in the 10,000-square-foot fulfillment center. Tiki applies artificial intelligence and robots capable of transporting 800kg products to speed things up. Thanks to the logistics system, Mr. Son aims to transport 500,000 products in 2 hours, up from 200,000 currently, helping Tiki achieve its profit target. Du Lam (According to Bloomberg)

Currently, the red color of ripe lychees has covered the streets of Hanoi. Although the price is still not “comfortable” but Hanoi people still love it and don’t stop asking to buy it. The price of fresh lychees on the Hanoi market is ranging from 35,000 VND to 50,000 VND/kg. The freshest lychee is tied in bunches of about 2-3kg and often the seller does not agree to tear it apart. Thus, to enjoy, customers must spend at least 100,000 VND. Hoa (Mai Dong market) carefully wraps fresh lychees with wet towels to keep them fresh. A small trader in the area of ​​So crossroads (Thanh Xuan District) said that on these days, he sells half a kilo of fresh lychees every day. The fresh Thanh Ha lychees are sold by this small merchant by weight, for 35,000/kg. Fresh litchi on this occasion is not really sweet, but it is still popular with many customers with the mentality of wanting to enjoy the early season specialties. It is easy to find fresh lychees at Vinh Ho market (Dong Da district), almost any fruit stall has them. Small traders at this market said that they can sell out 20-30kg of fresh lychees every day. The price of fresh litchi here ranges from 40,000 to 50,000 VND/kg. Ms. Mai, a fruit seller at Vinh Ho market, said she was selling fresh lychees for 50,000 VND/kg and further explained that this price had dropped a lot. Just a few days ago, around the 1st of the fourth lunar month, the price of fresh lychees she sold was about 100,000 VND/kg. While there are many litchi in the local market, in the supermarket, this fruit is not really abundant. Lotte supermarket (Dong Da district) is selling a lot of fruits, but fresh lychees are sparse. A customer said that she had been looking to buy fresh lychees in this supermarket for a long time but could not find them. After asking the help of the supermarket staff, she found the item she needed. But there are only very few fresh lychees among the range of other fruits. Fresh lychees in supermarkets are usually not as fresh as in the market. The supermarket staff explained that due to the wind, the lychee will dry out very quickly, turning a less attractive color. At BigC supermarket (Ha Dong), fresh Thanh Ha lychees are sold for 38,900 VND/kg. The lychees here also quickly turn yellow because they dry quickly when encountering cold air. The less eye-catching color seems to be the reason why fresh lychees in the first season in supermarkets are not as expensive as in the market. Mr. Nguyen Duy Canh, 35 years old, from Thanh Xuan, Hanoi said that he had just bought 3.8kg of fresh lychee at the market for 40,000 VND/kg. Currently, litchi in the market is fresh, easy to find, easy to buy and easy to bargain. Unlike in supermarkets, fresh lychees are hard to find and even if they are found, they lose their freshness. Not only in markets and supermarkets, fresh lychees also appear in many “online markets”. Currently, personal Facebook pages are actively selling and are also interested by many buyers, especially when the epidemic makes customers afraid to go to crowded places and want to buy goods online. On e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, and Lazada, Thanh Ha litchi also appeared at the beginning of the season. But if you want to buy, customers will have to order up to 7 days in advance, because the quantity of goods is not much.

In recent days, the whole country has continuously recorded a record increase of Covid-19 cases, many consumers have begun to change the way they go to the media market, instead sitting at home still “shopping online” quickly.

Previously, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thao, who lives in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, used to get up early to go to the market, but in recent weeks, her family has begun to gradually switch to online shopping. In particular, after District 3 recorded Covid-19 cases, she limited going out and promoted online shopping more. Thao shared: “After breakfast, I took advantage of “going to the online market”. In less than 2 hours, the food is delivered to my home, carefully preserved and fresh, I can keep it in the refrigerator for a week to eat and drink, avoiding crowded places. Use Happy Digital card on Nam A Bank’s Open Banking application to shop online and get 10% cashback. Not only “online shopping”, all transaction activities of Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) in the past 2 years have been used online for a very practical reason. “Going shopping, meeting a partner for lunch, going to a coffee shop with friends… we all pay online. In particular, on this occasion, I used Happy Digital card on Nam A Bank’s Open Banking application to shop online and get up to 10% cashback. During the Covid-19 epidemic season, paying by online form will easily look up the travel information where you have been” (Mr. Nam said).

In fact, non-cash payment is a current development trend, especially during the Covid-19 season, this form is chosen by many people because of its superiority in fast, safe payment speed. security and limit direct person-to-person contact. “I have been using online payment methods for many years now. Not only shopping but also paying bills for electricity, water, phone bills, etc., I also do it through Nam A Bank’s Open Banking app, which is very fast and convenient” (Ms. Thanh Mai, resident of Binh Tan District).
At the same time, in order to encourage users to transact online, banks also “accelerated” the digital transformation process to bring the most useful financial solutions to customers. At the same time, banks also waive many kinds of fees to encourage customers to use. Online payment is the current development trend, especially during the Covid-19 season, this form is chosen by many people For example, Nam A Bank’s Open Banking application is one of the most modern and latest technology applications, helping customers maximize their online transaction experience. For example, Nam A Bank’s comprehensive automatic electronic customer identification feature – eKYC allows customers to register for account opening 100% online on the Open Banking application.
In addition, the Bank also has many preferential activities for customers using the services on this application. Using Happy Digital card right on Open Banking without keeping the card in the wallet, without worrying about losing the card, customers also get up to 10% cashback on transactions. Especially, from June 2021 to the end of 2021, Nam A Bank credit cardholders will receive a discount of up to 500,000 VND when shopping online at Tiki e-commerce site. Or this bank is encouraging customers to save online with a higher difference at the counter from 0.05 to 0.8 percentage points. The highest online savings interest rate is 6.8%/year for a term of 13 months or more. This is a profitable, safe and stable investment channel with competitive interest rates… According to information from the State Bank at a recent press conference, electronic payments via the Internet, mobile phones, and QR codes have achieved remarkable results, attracting a large number of customers to use. Compared to the same period in the first 3 months of 2020, transactions via the Internet channel reached 156.2 million items with a value of 8.1 million billion (up 55.9% in quantity and 28.4% respectively in value). ; transactions via mobile phone channel reached 395.05 million items with a value of more than 4.6 million billion VND (increasing respectively 78% in quantity and 103% in value); transactions via QR code channel reached 5.3 million items with a value of VND 4,479 billion (up 83% in quantity and 146% in value respectively)….