1. Vietnamese Internet
Users Online Buying
And Selling Behavior
Results of an online-survey
among 2,495 internet users aged
18 - 54
Fieldwork: 20 July – 13 August , 2012
1

2. Conditions of Use and Copyright
Readers are welcome to use the data contained in this report for their own
purposes provided they acknowledge the source and both Acorn and Epinion
as the authors.

3. Research Purpose and Methodology
• Purpose: To understand Vietnamese internet users online buying
and selling behaviour
• Roles in the Joint Study:
– Acorn – study & questionnaire design, charting, analysis and reporting
– Epinion- programming, selection of respondents & online administration
• Respondent selection criteria:
– Existing members of Epinion’s online panel
– Aged 18 to 54
– Quotas placed on age to be representative of Vietnam’s internet
using population
– Nationwide coverage
• Methodology: Online survey via emailed invitation -July/Aug ‘12
• Length of interview: maximum 20 minutes
• Sample size: n=2,495
• Data Analysis: Data post-weighted to reflect actual internet usage
age ranges in Vietnam

4. OVERVIEW OF SAMPLED
RESPONDENTS

5. Sample Profile (Online Respondents)
Gender Age
38%
36%
26%
Male
47%
53% Female
18-24 yo 25-34 yo 35-54 yo
Income /SES Education
2% Secondary school and
A+ 13%
11%
under
A 29% High school
B 33% 24%
University - without
63%
degree
C 16%
University - with degree
F-D 10%
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

6. Online Users
Internet Usage
How long have they been using How many hours per day do
the Internet? they spend online?
More than 5
43%
6% hours
15%
Less than 3 years
4 to 6 years
28% 3-5 hours 34%
7 to 9 years 21%
10 to 12 years
1- 2 hours 20%
Over 12 years
30%
Less than 1
2%
hour
Average internet Average internet use
usage 8.5 years 5 hours per day
Ref: How many years have you been accessing the internet? / How many
hours do spend online each day?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

7. ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR

8. Online Window Shopping & Buying
0.3%
12%
No
99.7% Yes
88%
Ever Visited Online Shopping Sites Ever Bought Anything Online
Everyday 72% More than 25 times 20%
Once/week or more 22% 11-25 times 14%
Once/month or more 3% 6-10 times 20%
Once/3 months or more 2% 3-5 times 21%
Less often 1% Less than 2 times 14%
Visit frequency Purchase frequency
Ref: How often do you visit online shopping sites and/or buy and sell sites/auction
sites? / How many times have you bought something online?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

9. Online Users
Buyer Segments
8% 7% 8% 8%
4% 5% 3% 4%
Never bought & don't
12% 11% intend to
14% 17%
Never bought but might
in future
36% Ever bought, just 1-2
40%
41% times
45%
Moderate buyer (3-10)
Heavy buyer (>10)
41%
37%
33%
26%
TOTAL 18-24 yo 25-34 yo 35-54 yo
Ref: How many times have you bought something online? / How likely are you
to consider buying something online?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

10. Online Users
Devices Owned & Used to Access Shopping Sites
76%
Device owned
63% 64%
Device used to access shopping sites
47%
45%
37%
22%
16%
12%
8%
Laptop PC at home Feature phone with Smart phone Tablet
3G/GPRS
Ref: Which of the listed items you personally own / Which device do you use
to access online shopping sites/buy and sell/auction sites?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

11. Types of Online Shopping Websites
Individuals /small companies post new/used
Site owner bulk buys goods and services items for sale online paying site owner to post
from suppliers and resells them to ad. Payment and delivery settled directly
consumers as redeemable coupons at between poster and buyer.
discounted rates. Payment usually COD
Classified Ads Sites
Coupon sites Examples
Example sites: - 5giay.vn
- Muachung.com - Rongbay.com
- Cungmua.com Vietnam’s Online - Muare.vn
- 123mua.vn
- Nhommua.com Shopping Website Types
Proprietary online stores owned by one Similar to classified ad sites but for more
company – normally bigger companies – serious small businesses to make mass
often sell electronics. Promoting online sales. Payment may be via site or direct
payment but can also be COD. to poster. Good delivered by poster.
Online retail sites Commercial sites
Eg Examples
- Thegioididong.com - Vatgia.com
- Fptshop.com - Aha.vn

12. Examples of Key Websites by Shopping Site Type
Coupon sites Classified Ads Commercial Online retail
sites sites sites
51deal.vn 123mua.com aha.vn fptshop.com.vn
cucre.vn 5giay.vn vatgia.com thegioididong.com
cungmua.com chodientu.vn
cungmuasam.net ebay.vn
hotdeal.vn enbac.com
khuyenmaivang.com muaban.net
muachung.vn muaban24h.com.vn
nhommua.com muare.vn
vndoan.com raovat.vn
rongbay.com

13. Online Users
Type Of Shopping Websites Visited Most Often
79%
82% 76%
80%
77% 18-24 yo
75% 75% 75%
25-34 yo
35-54 yo
46% 52% Total
46%
43%
28%
29% 29%
25%
Coupon site Classified Commercial site Online retailer site
Muachung.com 5giay.vn Thegioididong.com Vatgia.com
EXAMPLES >>Hotdeal.vn Rongbay.com Fptshop.com Aha.vn
Ref: Which of the following sites have you visited in the past month please tick
all those you have visited?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

14. Online Shopping
Most Popular Shopping Website Types & Conversion Rates
Visited
79%
76% Purchased
65%
46%
29% 28%
13%
11%
Coupon site Classified Commercial site Online retailer site
Conversion
rates (%)
82% 38% 28% 39%
Ref: Which are the following shopping/buy & sell/auction sites you visit the most often? /
Which of these sites did you make your last three purchases from?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

15. Online Shopping
Item Categories Bought Online
# of items
6 Bought 70%
5 Median # times 60%
5 61%
50%
4
40%
42%
3 37% 3 3 3
3 30%
3 32% 31%
26% 24% 24% 24% 2 2 2 20%
2 23% 22% 21%
2 2 2 2 2 2 16% 16% 14% 10%
1 12%
1
0%
0 -10%
Ref: What categories of products have you ever bought online / Please indicate
the number of times you have bought items in each category online .
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

16. Online Shopping
Categories Less Suited to be Sold Online
Bought
61%
Not Appropriate to be sold
42%
37%
32%32% 31%
29%
26%
24% 24% 23% 24% 24% 23%
21% 22%
20%
18%
16% 16%16%
15% 14%
12% 12%
10% 10% 9% 8%
5% 4% 4%
Ref: What categories of products have you ever bought online / Which products
categories are NOT APPROPRIATE to be sold online in your opinion?
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

17. Online Shopping
Method of Order Placement for Online Purchases
Telephone vs Direct Online Order Placement Share of total orders
31%
96% 69%
71%
Has placed order directly online Ordered directly online
Has placed order via telephone Placed order via phone (after search)
Ref: How many of the purchases you have ever made online were: a) directly
ordered online and b) ordered via a telephone hotline (for direct delivery) after
an online search?
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

18. Online Shopping
Average Spend for Last Purchase & Payment Mode
367,000 VND Mean spend (last purchase)
400,000
750,000
400,000 4%
10%
Cash on delivery
750,000
Debit card online 3%
4%
Credit card online
750,000 2%
Third party online
400,000
Online bank transfer
Check/cash sent first
77%
Ref: How much did you spend on your last online purchase?
When buying something online, how do you pay most often? - MEDIAN
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

19. Online Shopping
Satisfaction Compared to Face-to-Face Shopping
Somewhat
29% 37% Much
22%
9%
3%
Better than face to face About the same as face to face Worse than face to face
instore shopping instore shopping instore shopping
Ref: How satisfied are you with the experience of shopping online compared with
normal.
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

20. Online Shopping
Future Intention to Keep Buying Online
7% 7%
67%
64%
Negative
Positive
Intention to buy online again Recommendation to others
Ref: How likely are you to shop online again? /
Would you recommend shopping online to your friends and relatives?
Base: Online Buyers, n=2,197

21. Online Window Shoppers
Barriers to Buying Online for Non-Shoppers
100%
n=2,495
Yes
No
99.7% 12% 9%
0.3% 99.7% 88% 12% 25% 75%
n=2,487 n=291 n=218
Ever visited online Ever bought Ever wanted to buy
Shopping sites something but didn’t
Reason for Not Buying the Item Seen Online & Desired (that could afford)
Price -more expensive than in the shops 40%
Prefer to see and touch 32%
Quality/appropriateness - not sure it was fit for purpose 30%
Availability - didn't have the type I wanted 25%
Fear- Afraid my payment details will be hacked 14%
Payment - I had no way to make payment 12%
Delivery - Slow delivery, it's quicker to buy it myself 6%
Delivery - I fear the goods will not be delivered after paid 3%
Ref: Did you ever see anything at online shopping sites/auction/buy & sell sites
that you wanted to buy and had enough money to afford? / Why did you not
buy the item(s) - what were the reasons?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

22. Non-Shoppers
Likelihood to Buy Online in the Future
14%
8%
Very likely
16%
Somewhat likely
Might of might not 20%
Somewhat unlikely
Very unlikely
43%
Ref: How likely are you to consider buying something online in the future?
Base: Internet users who window shop but have never bought anything online &
who never visit online shopping sites, n=298

23. Non-Shoppers
Attitudes to Shopping Online
Making payments for goods bought from the internet is dangerous 76% 4%
Buying things online saves time over buying things face to face 66% 11%
I generally trust people & companies selling things online 65% 16%
I would buy things online if there was a safe payment & delivery system 63% 17%
You can get the same quality at a cheaper price on the internet 60% 19%
Just about any service or product can be sold over the internet 54% 32%
There are safe ways to pay for things over the internet 50% 31%
I do not ever see myself buying anything over the internet 46% 32%
The internet is a good place for finding out about products & window… 43% 31%
The internet is a great source for finding out about new products 41% 32%
In the future, all Vietnamese with internet access will buy things online 40% 38%
You can be reasonably sure that goods will be delivered after bought online 40% 34%
Negative statement Agree Disagree
Ref: How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?
Base: Internet users who window shop but have never bought anything online &
who never visit online shopping sites, n=298

24. ONLINE SELLING BEHAVIOR

25. Online Selling Behavior
Incidence and Top Categories Sold
Ever Sold Online
66%
Product Types Sold (%)
Yes
37 Sold
No
34% 33 Only Second hand items
28
17 16
14
11 11
34% 6 6 6
n=849 4 5 4 5 5 4
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 1 2 1
Ref: Have you ever SOLD anything over the internet, either via an auction site or
your own website? / What kind of products have you sold online?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495; Online sellers, n=849

26. Online Selling Behavior
Type of Goods Sold
NEW BOTH 2nd HAND
33% 30% 37%
Ref: Was the item(s) you sold new or second-hand/used?
Base: Online sellers, n=849

27. Online Buying and Selling Behavior
Most Popular Categories Sold
53%
Bought
37% Sold
32%
28%
27%
23%
21% 21% 21% 20% 19% 18%
13% 14% 14% 13%
11%
9%
5%
4% 4%
2% 1% 2% 1% 1% 1% 2%
1% 1% 0% 0%
Ref: What categories of products have you ever bought online?
What kind of products have you sold online?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

28. Online Selling Behavior
Type Of Websites Used by Sellers
79%
76%
65%
Visited
Purchased
46% Sold
29% 28%
21%
13%
11%
8%
Coupon site Classified Commercial site Online retailer site
Ref: Which are the following shopping/buy & sell/auction sites you visit the most
often? / Which of these sites did you make your last three purchases from?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495

29. Online Selling Behavior
100%
n=2,495
Ever Sold Online Satisfaction with result
34%; n=849 Satisfied 61%
34%
Future online selling likelihood
Dissatisfied 17%
Likely 57%
66%
66%; n=1,646
Unlikely 18%
Yes No
Top 3 Barriers to Taking Up Internet Selling
Sourcing the product to sell 46%
Advertising/promoting the item to the audience 42%
Deciding what to sell 42%
Establishing and controlling the payment system 40%
Ensuring the delivery of product 26%
Trusting the buyer 22%
Setting the price 21%
Handling tax implications and accounting 17%
Ref: How satisfied were you with the result of selling online? / How likely are you
to try to sell something online in the future? / From this list what would be
the top three most barriers that you believe you would face in conducting or
setting-up online sales?
Base: All respondents, n=2,495; Never sellers n=1,646

30. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

31. Executive Summary
Online Shopping Incidence and Behaviour
• Virtually all (99.7%) internet users have visited a shopping site online and 72% do
so everyday
• Two-thirds of Vietnamese online shoppers access shopping sites online and 45%
do so on a desktop PC – only 22% use their smartphone and just 8% use a tablet
• A staggering 88% have ever bought something online, with 20% claiming more
than 25 purchases to date and a median of 8.75 purchases
• Most have bought things through coupon sites (65%) and classified ad sites (29%),
with 13% buying through commercial sites and 11% through online retailer sites
• Even among the 12% who have never bought anything online, 4% do not rule out
the possibility that they will – nor are never-shoppers more prevalent among the
older age groups, indeed older respondents (35-54 years) appear to contain more
heavy buyers than younger age groups
• Most commonly bought items are fashion (61%), house appliances (42%), food
and beverages (37%), mobile devices (37%) and cosmetics (31%). Least likely to
have been purchased online are phone apps and software (12%).
• Average (median) spend on last item purchased was approx. VND 367,000 (US$
17.6), though 8% said they spent over 5 million VND (US$ 240)

32. Executive Summary
Online Shopping Incidence and Behaviour
• But given poor access to credit and low bank usage in Vietnam, cash on delivery
dominates e-commerce in Vietnam - three quarters of last purchases were by cash
on delivery to home and only 5% made by credit or debit card
• Vietnamese on-line buyers feel comfortable buying online - with a plurality (38%)
believing that online shopping is better than face-to-face shopping, while just 25%
feel it is worse and two-thirds saying they will buy online again in future
• They also believe most items can be sold online – though electronic devices and
mobile devices are thought to be least appropriate to be bought online, while few
people reject buying travel services and tickets online
Non-buyers
• Among never buyers, around 75% have window-shopped online and wanted to
buy something that they could afford, but did not buy it, with 40% citing the higher
price online than in the shops as the major disincentive, followed by the need to
touch and feel the objects (32%)
• Trust appears to remain a barrier among those who have never bought online.
Three-quarters agree that making payments remains dangerous and less than half
(40%) agree that you can be reasonably sure of delivery if you buy something over
the internet.

33. Executive Summary
• Over half also appear to enjoy the shopping experience and finding out about new
products the old fashioned way
Online Selling Incidence
• While 88% have ever bought online, just 34% have ever sold anything online –with
the incidence of selling new and used goods being roughly equal
• Nevertheless, interest in selling online is high even among those who have never
done so – with over half (57%) saying they will likely sell something online in
future
• However, potential sellers are put off from selling online primarily by not knowing
where to source merchandise (46%), or what to sell (42%), or how to
advertise/promote the product online (42%) or establishing a payment system
(40%)
• The most common items sold online are mobile devices (13% of all respondents
have sold these online), fashion items (9%) and electronic devices (3%) and these
are mostly sold over classified sites (21%)

34. Executive Summary
Conclusions
• Persons who join internet panels are self-selected and hence can be expected to
be more active online than the average internet user. But even accounting for this,
this survey indicates that internet commerce is here to stay in Vietnam and can
only be expected to grow.
• Vietnamese netizens feel comfortable online and a surprising number have
bought (88%) and sold (34%) online already.
• However, online commerce in Vietnam has adopted a peculiarly Vietnamese flavor
in accordance with the state of financial development. Three quarters of
transactions are completed using cash on delivery whereby a delivery man rides
the ubiquitous motorcycle to your door to deliver your order. Credit and debit
cards are so rare that only 5% of last transactions were paid in this way.
• Trust in payment systems, and doubts about whether goods will be delivered also
remain as significant barriers to online commerce in the minds of never buyers –
even though two-thirds agree that online purchases save time, and possibly money
over face to face shopping.
• But as confidence in the banking and payments systems improves, these barriers
are also likely to slowly dissolve and internet commerce can only thrive and grow.

35. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Acorn Vietnam
Contact : Pham Tran Nghia Contact: Bill Pritchard
Email : pham.tran.nghia@epinion.vn
Email: william@acorn.com.vn
Tel: +84 905 025 752
Tel: +84-8-3823-3007