A person makes online purchases using a credit card. Photo by Shutterstock/LDprod.

Vietnam ranked first in cross-border online shopping frequency in Southeast Asia, with more than 100 purchase orders per year on average, according to a recent e-commerce report by Singapore-based logistics firm Ninja Van Group in partnership with Europe’s largest parcel delivery network DPDgroup.

With an average of 104 purchase orders per year, Vietnam took the lead in e-shopping frequency, followed by Thailand with 75 orders and Singapore and the Philippines with 58 each.

Representing large proportions in Vietnamese orders were fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, clothing and footwear, the report said.

Besides the top position in purchase orders, Vietnam ranked second in international e-shopping, with 59 percent of Vietnamese respondents saying that they have ordered or shopped many times on foreign websites, slightly lower than Singapore.

Vietnam also accounted for 15% of the total online shopping market in Southeast Asia, second only to Thailand with 16 % and equal to the Philippines.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out two years ago, the region has seen an increase of around 70 million online shoppers, and the number is expected to grow to some 380 million by 2026, Ninja Van Group reported.

The firm stated that it delivers about two million parcels per day across the region covered in this report during the past 12 months, reflecting strong e-commerce growth.

“We believe that Vietnam is one of the potential markets thanks to its sustainable and apparent growth in recent years,” said Phan Xuan Dung, chief customer officer of Ninja Van Vietnam.

Multinational cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab recently described Vietnam as the safest country in Southeast Asia against the threat of financial attacks targeting banks, payment systems and online stores.

Mr. Yeo Siang Tiong, Kaspersky Lab’s general manager for Southeast Asia. Photo: Channel Asia

Mr. Yeo Siang Tiong, Kaspersky Lab’s general manager for Southeast Asia, said that the company's statistics showed the rate of scams related to banks, payment systems and online stores in Vietnam was lower than other countries in the region. The fraud rate was 26.36% in Vietnam while it was 40.87% in Indonesia, 46.77% in Malaysia, 64,03% in the Philippines, 51.6% in Singapore and 56.35% in Thailand.

"Vietnam is definitely ready for rapid digital transformation as well as ensuring a safer financial environment for organisations and individuals due to strong infrastructure and threat intelligence sharing," Yeo said.

Regarding Vietnam's efforts in ensuring security against attacks on the financial sector, Yeo said the increase in online transactions in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic was parallel with the rise of frauds through the use of fake pages of popular payment systems such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal.

The online transactions and shopping of users are increasingly improved, and this can be attributed to the ongoing efforts of the Government of Vietnam to raise awareness on financial and data security in the context of mobile banking and e-wallets flourishing in the region.

According to the Fintech and Digital Banking 2025 - Asia Pacific report by Backbase, mobile transactions are forecast to increase by 300% in Vietnam by 2025, thanks to the booming digital economy.

Vietnamese banks that will develop their own unique brand of digital with high technology investments fit include Vietnam Joint Stock banks. Meanwhile, Fintechs in Vietnam is widening the gap against other organizations in the low technology investments fit and approaching Vietnam's public sector and small-tier banks, whose position is between the high and low technology investments fit.

Screenshot from the Fintech and Digital Banking 2025 - Asia Pacific report by Backbase

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