According to Research and Markets, the global gamification market was valued at over 10 million USD in 2020 and is expected to reach more than 38 million USD by 2026. 

Gamification is a creative marketing strategy that has recently grabbed the attention of eCommerce business owners who are looking for ways to enhance customer engagement and achieve sales targets. In this article, we will discuss the ways Gamification empowers eCommerce. 

What is Gamification?

Gamification hay trò chơi điện tử ứng dụng hoá, gọi tắt là Game hoá là thuật ngữ chỉ việc lồng ghép khéo léo cơ chế của trò chơi điện tử vào hoạt động marketing một cách sáng tạo, ấn tượng nhằm đạt được mục tiêu marketing đã đề ra.

Gamification is the application of typical elements of game playing to other areas of activity to help businesses achieve their marketing goals. 

Gamification emphasizes entertainment, making it a fantastic tactic for boosting brand loyalty and encouraging engagement with products or services. In recent years, eCommerce businesses have been accelerating the use of Gamification in the online shopping experience. Because customers today have more options, they also have higher expectations for their purchasing experiences. If an online store offers unique and enjoyable shopping experiences, customers are more likely to make a purchase quickly. Gamification will help eCommerce businesses stand out from the crowd.

Why apply eCommerce Gamification?

Increase Customer Engagement

Businesses can increase engagement by integrating Gamification into eCommerce websites and making shopping fun and interactive. Recent studies show that the eCommerce Gamification strategy will increase customer engagement by 47%. 

Games usually ask players to complete tasks to earn reward points or to win the game (e.g sharing the game on social networks, inviting friends, browsing products, and adding to carts). If the game has some discount codes or vouchers, it will attract more players. That way, an eCommerce business can deliver its brand messaging directly to customers without pressuring or urging them into buying. An enjoyable shopping experience leads to an increased conversion rate. 

Boost Sales

eCommerce Gamification strategy will help businesses boost sales if used effectively. When customers are engaged with the game, they are more likely to win discount codes and use them for later purchases which will make sales increase significantly.

In 2021, Domino’s Pizza,  one of the world’s leading pizza brands, increased its sales revenue by 30% with the help of Gamification. This company developed a game called Pizza Hero, in which users will make their pizzas on mobile devices. They can then click “Make an order” to order their pizza creation at a discounted price.

Enhance Brand Loyalty

For brands, retaining customers and turning them into loyal customers is important. Gamification can help enhance brand loyalty by creating interesting experiences that encourage repeat visits. If a brand offers points or badges for reaching milestones, customers excited about earning rewards will be more likely to come back and play again. Whenever customers have shopping needs, they will recall and choose that brand.

The drawbacks of Gamification

Although Gamification helps increase customer engagement, boost sales, and enhance brand loyalty, it still has potential drawbacks that eCommerce businesses should keep in mind before implementing it. 

Developing amazing games requires creativity. Basic games like Quiz or Spin The Wheel are easy to create. These game experiences are too common among users so it’s unlikely to generate conversion. Hence, every business needs to get professional advice from creative agencies to design and develop engaging games that catch the eyes of users. However, it costs a lot of time and budget. 

For example, creating a game with a variety of sound effects, images, videos, or personalized animated elements that enrich the user experience will increase the cost of implementation. 

Most successful Gamification campaigns

Starbucks

Among brands that have had success using Gamification, Starbucks would be the first one mentioned. Coffee brands usually offer vouchers or loyalty cards to encourage customers to return next time. Breaking out of the old rut, Starbucks developed a special game for its customers – “Flip the Cup”, in which the player chooses his favorite drink and could use one hand to flip the Starbucks cup. Each time, the player has 10 flips and each successful flip gets 10 points. Then, with the points achieved, the player can choose to play again or download vouchers. This exciting experience boosted engagement by 90% and the number of downloaded vouchers exceeded the targets by 110%.

Domino’s Pizza

As mentioned above, Domino’s Pizza first entered the market in 2012, and that same year the company also launched Pizza Hero, the first game that gave pizza lovers a new way to order. In case they don’t know what to order, they can shake their mobile devices to ask the app for suggestions. Especially, users can customize their pizzas, find coupons, place orders at a nearby store, and track order progress right on their devices. 

By using this strategy, Domino’s was able to boost online sales by 30% and achieve $1 billion in the US market alone. Pizza Hero received 140,000 downloads in the first two weeks after its debut, propelling it into the top 15 Lifestyle ranking on Google Play and the iTunes Store. Moreover, Pizza Hero and Domino’s Pizza both won the praise of Forbes, the most prestigious magazine in the world.

Gucci

Gucci has taken eCommerce Gamification to a new level. Gucci Arcade is one of the fashion giant’s Gamification strategies to attract the attention of Generation Z. It offers customers amazing games to engage with such as Gucci Bee and Gucci Ace. This experience helps Guccis reach a wide pool of potential Gen-Z customers.

Gamification is a strategy that strengthens the development of eCommerce. It has become popular in the world as well as in Vietnam. Every business owner needs to seriously recognize its potential and plan for rapid implementation. 

Talk to SECOMM today to get expert advice on eCommerce Gamification.

​​​​​​According to CommonThread, the global cosmetics eCommerce market size is valued at 483 billion USD in 2020 and grew to 511 billion USD in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.75%. The market size is anticipated to surpass 716 billion USD by 2025 and reach 784.6 billion USD by 2027.

The amazing growth rate of the online cosmetics sector demonstrates both the industry’s enormous potential to grow and its significant contribution to the global economy. Cosmetic companies must encourage the development of eCommerce websites to enter the market rapidly and take control of it in order to keep up with the economic trend as a whole.

It takes time to develop an online store for cosmetics, and SECOMM has detailed and analyzed the two key stages of the process.

Stage 1: Basic cosmetics eCommerce website development

Targeting

The first important thing a cosmetic business needs to do is to set goals and prioritize those goals in the short and long term. 

In the short term, promotional activities, monitoring, analyzing, and measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, especially user experience should be the top goals that need to be promoted.

In the long term, cosmetics eCommerce businesses should focus on increasing brand recognition and online business capabilities of their products.

At this stage, businesses do not have much data to analyze and evaluate for the whole process, so they can listen to a lot of advice from specialized eCommerce implementation consulting units with a lot of experience in long-term consulting to get the right list and priority of goals for both this period and beyond.

Platforms selection

In today’s market, there are two types of platforms that are dedicated to building eCommerce websites, including SaaS platforms and Open Source platforms.

SaaS platforms

Service as a Software (SaaS) is a service-based software application distribution model for eCommerce business purposes.

In other words, the provider creates and maintains software to help build an eCommerce website and the business will pay a certain cost to use this service.

With SaaS, the entire website system is hosted on the provider’s server, so ownership and control of the source code and data will belong to the provider.

This means the SaaS service provider will be responsible for handling and fixing technical problems arising during the cosmetic eCommerce implementation. 

• Pros: Easy to use, fast deployment time, good security, 24/7 customer service.
• Cons: The cost of building an eCommerce website increases over time, businesses cannot own the source code and data, and the functions and capabilities of customization and expansion are limited.

Some of the popular SaaS platforms today are: Shopify, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc

Open-Source platforms

An Open Source platform or an open source platform is software with a widely released source code that allows users to download, modify and upgrade necessary features for eCommerce business purposes.

The platform is often developed by a community of developers rather than a single company.

Moreover, this will be the ideal platform for implementing complex eCommerce website systems, specific to many fields including cosmetics thanks to in-depth customization functions.

This means that businesses need to cooperate with professional eCommerce website builders or develop a team of highly qualified internal staff to operate the website effectively.

• Pros: Customizability, flexible extension, diverse features, and add-ons, businesses own the source code and website data. 
• Cons: The cost of building an eCommerce website is high, the implementation time is long and it is not easy to use.

The most prominent Open Source platforms on the market today: Magento, OpenCart, WooCommerce (WordPress Plugin), etc. 

At this stage, businesses should choose a SaaS platform to start with to familiarize themselves with the eCommerce business as well as save budget for more important investments such as marketing,…

Then, when entering the second stage, the business scale has now grown and expanded, and switching to the Open Source platform is now necessary and reasonable to achieve the goal of eCommerce growth.

Web interface design

After choosing a platform to build a cosmetic eCommerce website, the business will design the website interface so that the standards of UI/UX are met in order to optimize the website, showing the characteristics of the brand and cosmetics industry.

​​So, businesses can choose one of the following three ways to design an eCommerce website interface:

• Using the available interface: This way helps businesses save interface costs compared to the other two ways. Both SaaS and Open Source platforms provide a variety of UI/UX interfaces with prices ranging from $300 to $500.
• Customizing based on the available interface: Almost the same as the first way, but businesses will customize the interface to suit the needs of brand development.
• ​​Using a self-designed interface: Companies can start thinking about designing their own website interface right immediately to develop a brand image that is unique and more creative than rivals. Even while this is more expensive for businesses than adopting an already-existing interface, the “tailor-made” design interface will match the industry-specific requirements and expectations of the company during the eCommerce deployment phase

Usually, in stage 1, businesses should only use the available interface or customize based on the available interface because the basic functionality system needed, most of the interfaces provided are already there.

Functional system development

In the first stage, businesses should prioritize developing the basic functional system needed for a complete cosmetic eCommerce website, specifically including: 

• Category management: Manage product categories, functions, prices, images/videos to optimize business operations.
• Sales management: Manage order information, understand and analyze customers’ shopping behavior effectively.
• Marketing management: Integrating features such as URLs, meta tags, and internal links to optimize SEO, combined with effective marketing campaigns to achieve sales goals.
• Content management: Build and optimize content for the CMS system from text, images, banners, widgets, and templates to brand content, blogs, etc.
• Customer management: Store, manage and analyze customer information and customer groups, thereby improving marketing effectiveness to optimize the online shopping experience.
• System management: Manage and decentralize administrators to operate, secure and maintain the eCommerce website system.
• Store management: Use inventory management tools at branches, stores, and warehouses to ensure a continuous and efficient supply process.
• Cart and checkout management: Manage customer shopping cart and payment information.
• Analysis and reporting: Analyze and measure the performance of the eCommerce website system, thereby giving the next business strategy.

Functional system development

Legal procedures finalizing

The final step of building a basic eCommerce website is completing the necessary legal procedures for the website to be allowed to operate legally.

Businesses can follow the simple registration steps as instructed at the eCommerce Management Portal.

This is a mandatory requirement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for every individual or organization that owns an eCommerce website to sell goods and to perform the registration/notification obligation on time.

Stage 2: Advanced cosmetics eCommerce website development

Re-targeting

Along the business development journey that comes with the constant change of consumer behavior, business goals, and strategies need to be adjusted and re-established to match the current context of the eCommerce market. In addition, at this stage, businesses also have problems, data, and insights about online users, so setting goals will be easy.

In the short term, businesses can prioritize finding and attracting potential customers and growing online sales with effective marketing.

In the long term, a cosmetic business can consider the goal of expanding the market segment by identifying the target market segment and making a marketing strategy in accordance with the product characteristics and the direction of the business in the second stage. 

In addition to short-term and long-term goals, businesses need to focus on considering the time and cost of investing in the cosmetic eCommerce website system because, at this stage, the cost and investment budget will often be large. much more than the basic construction phase above.

eCommerce platform switching

In the beginning, cosmetics businesses are advised to develop their initial eCommerce websites using SaaS platforms. However, the restricted capability and customizability of SaaS won’t be able to satisfy that expectation given the second phase’s objectives of growth and scalability.

To create more specialized cosmetic eCommerce websites at this moment, companies can think about moving to Open Source platforms with respected names like Magento, WooCommerce, etc.

Some suggested criteria to consider when choosing an Open Source platform:

• ​​Support to design eCommerce website interface based on UI/UX standards.
• Provide functional systems from basic to advanced and specific to the cosmetic industry.
• Flexible customization, high extensibility, integration with third-party services, and a variety of add-ons.
• High security.

Besides that, businesses should be aware of the costs associated with switching from a SaaS platform to an Open Source platform, the time required for staff to learn on the new platform, the danger of data loss, and any issues that may occur.

Resources selection

Unlike the basic eCommerce website building stage, in the second stage of the implementation process, businesses need to choose resources for development. Businesses can build an internal team or seek support from a specialized developer.

The business will hire and train skilled and specialized IT people on the chosen platform for internal team growth. In this case, it will require a lot of time and money from the company, but it will aid in better resource management, control, and active adjustment to develop the eCommerce website system in accordance with the original aim.

Businesses frequently work with a variety of firms to find “true love” in their collaboration with eCommerce website developers. As a result, businesses will receive the eCommerce websites they need as expected, the collaboration process will go smoothly, and businesses will gain more expert knowledge and website development experience from a partner, which will point them in the right direction in terms of the cosmetic eCommerce industry’s development trends.

These are the criteria that businesses should consider when choosing: In-depth knowledge and experience in eCommerce and the cosmetics industry; professional working team; clear and detailed working process; ability to quickly handle problems that arise during website development.

Web interface re-design

Businesses are not required to update the website interface while switching platforms. Redesigning the website interface to work with the Open Source platform, however, is today recognized as a wise company development approach that was introduced simultaneously with the deployment of advanced eCommerce websites.

Similar to the previous period, businesses have three options for designing e-commerce website interfaces, including using the available themes, customizing based on the available themes, and designing their own interface.

Usually, at this step, businesses should choose method 2 or 3 to design the interface to ensure the uniqueness of the brand and the specificity of the cosmetic eCommerce industry.

Upgrade the system with advanced and industry-specific functions

In addition to the basic functions that have been built for the eCommerce website system in stage 1, businesses should concentrate on developing a system of advanced and specific functions for the cosmetic industry in the later stages. 

Today, several well-known cosmetic brands embrace AR (Augmented Reality) technology to improve the customer experience. Customers can now download the AR software, activate the camera, and sample the goods online rather than going physically trying it on in the store to see whether it will fit their face.

The Kylie Virtual World application, for instance, offers users an engaging product experience. Users of the newly released Kylie Cosmetics items, such as eye cream, foundation, and lipstick, can sample the product out in 360 degrees by using their phones to scan the QR code.

eCommerce website system maintenance

A sophisticated eCommerce website system demands a great deal of experience and effort to operate and maintain. This is the procedure of continuously maintaining, updating, and upgrading the entire system to aid firms in foreseeing and resolving problems (for example, sudden increase in traffic from the promotions that stimulate shopping).

That supports sustained and persistent online sales growth, which is important for eCommerce businesses in general and furniture eCommerce in particular as they compete for a market share of this “pie,” which is “delicious” but can be challenging to consume.

eCommerce acceleration

Furniture eCommerce enterprises readily accomplish growth above and beyond expectations by putting into practice efficient business and marketing strategies.

Therefore, the entire process—from planning through implementation—must be structured with effective, practical solutions that have been demonstrated to work. Implementing Omnichannel, eCommerce Marketing, and SEO optimization are some suggested methods for eCommerce enterprises to accelerate growth.

eCommerce business optimization

​​The journey of developing an eCommerce website ends with measuring, analyzing, and optimizing eCommerce business activities.

Businesses can use analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, etc., to track, update and measure website performance metrics as well as the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

From there, the eCommerce business strategy for the next stage of development will be carefully and methodically planned thanks to clear and detailed reports & analysis.

The journey of building a cosmetic eCommerce website with two stages from basic to advanced has been outlined in detail with meticulously analyzed implementation steps. Businesses in the industry can refer to it to draw their own development journey in this potential field.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries in recent years, SECOMM understands the difficulties and challenges in the process of implementing an interior eCommerce website.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

After Covid, eCommerce is on the rise and is expected to continue to thrive stronger and more resilient than ever. Global retail eCommerce sales reached $4.9 trillion in 2021, as stated by Statista. By 2025, this figure is projected to increase by 50% to approximately $7.4 trillion and there is no sign that the growth of online shopping will slow down anytime soon.

The expansion of eCommerce has raised concerns among physical store owners and urged them to embrace eCommerce quickly to avoid being left behind. It’s simple for businesses with a large budget, but other small and medium-sized businesses will not be able to move their entire operations online. Thus, the O2O Commerce model is the solution worth considering. Its popularity has been raised since 2021 and is expected to reach retailers soon. 

What is O2O Commerce?

O2O or Online-to-Offline Commerce Model is a business strategy that draws potential customers from online channels to make purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. This model aims to create a seamless shopping experience at all stages: before, during, and after purchasing.

How does O2O Commerce work?

O2O Commerce combines online and offline business models. Its objective is to increase product awareness online, allowing customers to search for what they need before visiting a physical store to make a purchase. There are some O2O strategies that businesses can try including Buy Online Pick-up In-store (BOPIS), In-store Returns, Home Delivery, etc

For example: 

• A man wants to buy a shirt from a particular fashion brand;
• He searches for it online and goes to the web store that sells the product he is interested in;
• Then, he chooses the shirt’s size and color, applies a discount code, and makes a purchase;
• He goes to a local store and picks up the shirt by providing his information;
• He tries on the shirt he ordered in the store to check its quality, size, and comfort. If he is not satisfied with the product, he can return it and get a refund.

That way, the customer can both take advantage of the discount code for the shirt, and try it on at the nearest store without having to wait for delivery. Moreover, he can completely return the shirt immediately and go to another store if he is not satisfied.

Home Delivery is also another popular strategy in the O2O world. It will take a few hours or a day. So, the man can buy his shirt online, select the home-delivery option and wait to get it. In another case, when going to the store to pick up the shirt, he sees and likes a jacket but needs help finding the right size or favorite color. He simply places an order online while in store and that desired jacket will be delivered to his door.  

The differences between O2O and Omnichannel

The example above may confuse the O2O commerce model and the Omnichannel commerce model. Although they both facilitate a more seamless shopping experience among channels, their main goals are quite different. While Omnichannel aims to integrate all sales channels in one ecosystem, O2O aims to bring potential online customers to physical stores to make purchases. Both strategies are designed to bridge the gap between online and offline sales, but O2O prioritizes a specific buying journey instead of multiple touchpoints in Omnichannel commerce.

Case studies

Topshop

One of the brands that understand what they are doing to connect in-store shopping with online shopping in a tight way is Topshop. By partnering with eCommerce website ShangPin to open retail stores in malls, with giant iPhones decorated in Topshop style, customers can access “The Mobile Adventure” by scanning a QR code to view and try on virtual Topshop fashion products in the store. Then they share their look on social media and place an order.

Tommy Hilfiger

When it comes to fashion, Tommy Hilfiger has shown his agility when deploying the O2O model. In 2015, the brand launched digital showrooms, pioneering the fashion industry’s digital revolution. In 2016 they launched a chatbot through Facebook Messenger and in 2017 they launched the Hilfiger Club app with a loyalty program of personalized special offers and invitations to the brand’s events. All of that gives customers a good reason to come to the store. 

99 Ranch Market and WeChat’s Shake

In recognition of the significance of an O2O commerce strategy, WeChat introduced a “Shake” feature that enables mobile users to connect to a nearby local business by shaking their phones. The retailer’s unique offers are then all accessible, encouraging customers to engage in the in-store buying experience.

Soon after, the 99 Ranch Market, a chain of Chinese-American supermarkets, benefited from the popularity of WeChat’s “Shake” feature and the rise of O2O among the Chinese community in the US. Customers can play a “beacon shake” game the company has created, which is activated by in-store beacons and gives them the chance to win a variety of prizes and coupons for their subsequent purchases. 

The O2O Commerce model is an incredible idea with great potential to change both online and offline sales in the eCommerce era. While customers can shop both in-store and online, brands can optimize engagement, conversion rates, and average order value.

Today, when customers’ expectations for online shopping are similar to offline shopping, one condition for physical stores to survive is to build their online presence quickly. The O2O strategy is about leveraging both online and offline channels, thereby enhancing brand loyalty, and providing a seamless Online-to-Offline shopping experience at all stages: before, during, and after purchases. 

Want to know more? Contact our experts to learn more about O2O Commerce and how to implement it in your business. 

We are living in a world where the younger generation has taken the lead in setting ever-rising standards for digital experience. So, it’s important for businesses to quickly adapt to new trends for sustainable development to keep up with the shift.

Especially during a global pandemic, eCommerce has become one of the top priorities of every business owner. In order to thrive in a rapidly changing market and keep customers loyal, brick-and-mortar businesses have had to build an online presence and increase their eCommerce capabilities. 

The term “Omnichannel Commerce” is defined as a “trend” that helps businesses achieve the aforementioned objectives and this trend is expected to continue to accelerate in the coming years. 

What is Omnichannel Commerce?

Omnichannel Commerce is a multichannel approach that focuses on offering a seamless shopping experience by marketing and selling across all channels where potential customers are present including mobile devices, social networks, eCommerce websites, and brick-and-mortar stores.

The main differences between Single Channel, Multichannel, and Omnichannel

Single-channel Commerce 

When a company sells its products or services only through one channel, that approach is known as single-channel commerce. It could be a physical store, an eCommerce website, or a marketplace like Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, etc. 

Selling through a single channel could initially be quite successful, but if businesses desire to provide their customers with a richer shopping experience and increase brand awareness, they need to add multiple channels to showcase and sell their products or services. 

Multichannel Commerce 

When it comes to the Multichannel Commerce strategy, businesses will interact with customers and sell their products through both online and offline channels. This strategy makes use of touchpoints where customers can perform the same action at any available channel. These touchpoints, however, are independent and barely or not at all connected among channels. For example, a physical store with an eCommerce website has no inventory-sharing function.

Omnichannel Commerce 

Similar to Multichannel Commerce, Omnichannel Commerce enables a company’s marketing and sales efforts to be spread across numerous channels. The main distinction is that Omnichannel Commerce prioritizes the customer, connects all touchpoints, and creates a unified buying experience. But, Multichannel Commerce aims to reach as many channels as possible, with unique content for each and customers will interact with brands through their preferred channels.

How does Omnichannel Commerce work?

An effective Omnichannel Commerce strategy includes effective operations of each sales channel that will be integrated in a seamless and consistent manner. Touchpoints should provide a unique but connected experience based on previous interactions. That experience takes customers to the end of the customer journey to get the business’s objectives.

Imagine a man who wanted to buy a new washing machine. After seeing an attractive TVC with the merchant’s information, he used his laptop to begin searching on the Internet. He discovered the merchant’s eCommerce website, and his desired product is offered at a local physical store. He decided to add that product to his shopping cart after chatting with the customer service team. 

He downloaded the merchant’s app, signed into his account, and accessed his cart before heading to the store because he wanted to see and check that washing machine in person before making a purchase. He checked the app to ensure the item is still in stock, its quantity, the best payment method, and any associated special offers. 

When he arrived, he checked the product’s quality and checked out with the QR Code. The transaction is finished. Under the CRM system, his information and data would be saved for upcoming marketing campaigns and post-sale efforts.

What are the benefits of Omnichannel Commerce?

Nowadays, consumers receive a ton of offers and messages from many brands day after day. This brings up many considerations when choosing a brand to engage with. Developing an Omnichannel strategy to connect with customers in a seamless manner across multiple channels will set a brand apart from the competition. 

Omnichannel Commerce is a customer-centric model, connecting touchpoints and providing personalized experiences. This contributes to the company’s revenue increase as expected with cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. 

Also, the branding strategy will be effective and successful, enhancing customer loyalty as well as the brand message will reach the right target audience thanks to the consistency of the Omnichannel Commerce model. It’s not only useful for increasing customer engagement but also for customer data evaluation. 

Thus, businesses will have a bigger picture of the customer journey, the times and channels customers usually interact with, as well as the most effective and valuable marketing campaigns. All this data needs to be meticulously analyzed and reused in the next marketing campaigns.

3 examples of Omnichannel Commerce in the real world

Nordstrom

Omnichannel Commerce has long been a strength for Nordstrom. They created the Pincode feature that allows customers to use their smartphone to scan and access Pinterest to get a $100 Nordstrom giveaway while in the store. The brand also showcases in the store Pinterest’s best-selling products as an interesting suggestion. 

In addition to Pinterest, it uses Youtube to create video tutorials for matching outfits and suggests its customers go to the physical store to meet a professional. At the store, they will receive valuable advice that may lead to a purchase decision. 

Recently, Nordstrom has leveraged Instagram’s shoppable posts to inspire shopping and encourage customers to make quick decisions.

Sephora

Sephora is one of the major brands in the beauty industry that is successful with Omnichannel Commerce. The company has established a strong connection between online and offline shopping experiences. Customers can access Sephora Beauty Bag’s personal account by using available tablets in its brick-and-mortar stores.

This account allows them to look up details of the items they are interested in and try them out using virtual reality. Additionally, Sephora’s benefits, like its in-store makeup tutorials and personalized gifts, have encouraged customers to make larger purchases.

Starbucks

The world-famous beverage brand – Starbucks has launched the Starbucks Rewards App which is considered the pinnacle of Omnichannel Commerce. After creating an account, Starbucks fans can find a list of local stores, order drinks, and pay in advance so they don’t have to wait in line.

The app also regularly makes personalized recommendations for each customer based on previous orders, loyalty programs, weather, holiday seasons, or local store inventory.

Keeping up with the ever-changing business world is not easy. In fact, many big brands in the world have implemented Omnichannel Commerce early and have achieved great success. Plus, many other businesses are tending to gradually shift from Single-channel or Multichannel to Omnichannel and recognize this model as a bridge connecting customer experience between online and offline channels in a seamless way. 

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM understands the difficulties when doing an Omnichannel Commerce strategy. 

Contact our expert now to get a free consultation. 

The eCommerce industry has a sizable market share in the Vietnamese economy and has shown impressive growth over the past two years due to the effects of the worldwide pandemic and social isolation.

After a year of society adjusting to the “new normal”, customers have started to buy at traditional stores again but the established trend of eCommerce consumption and the push from the wave of global digital transformation have encouraged businesses to change in order to suit the way the digital economy works.

Therefore, recognizing and anticipating the eCommerce trend of 2023 is extremely necessary for businesses’ New Year’s Marketing strategies to be implemented effectively and successfully.

Below is a list of 10 eCommerce trends that are forecast to “storm” the market in the next year.

Omnichannel

Omnichannel is an omnichannel sales model that helps businesses reach customers through many channels such as eCommerce websites, social networks, eCommerce platforms, chain stores, and distribution agents but operating in just one management system. 

Additionally, there is a second type of sales model called “Multi-channel” that differs from Omnichannel in that it allows for discrete marketing content, unlinked data, and independent channel operation.

When purchasing across numerous channels, continuous and seamless updates result in a heterogeneous and seamless customer experience.

Due to the lifting of social distance restrictions, consumers are beginning to return to in-store buying after two years of online shopping.

However, that doesn’t mean that eCommerce’s growth momentum is stagnant; on the contrary, it keeps exploding.

Businesses there make use of the current rise in popularity of online shopping to encourage the use of Omnichannel to improve the varied and efficient shopping experience.

As researchers have noted:

• An estimated 56% of customers use smartphones to look up products while in a retail store.
• Nearly 75% of users use many different channels such as websites, social networks, and physical stores to shop.
• Around 73% of eCommerce consumers say they take an Omnichannel approach throughout the experience journey. For example, after shopping at a store, shoppers continue to follow the brand’s website, social networking sites, and eCommerce platforms.

As a result, 2023 will still be recognized as a strong year for omnichannel in eCommerce.

Mobile Commerce

Mobile Commerce or mCommerce is a business model that allows companies and individuals to deliver goods and services directly to consumers through handheld wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets.

According to Bankmycell, the number of smartphone users worldwide in 2022 is 6.648 billion, equivalent to 83.07% of the world population owning a smartphone.

Moreover, it is predicted that this number will increase to 7,516 billion by 2026. In addition, the percentage of global users participating in online shopping in 2022 accounts for 58.4%.

In Vietnam alone, interesting figures are listed in the Vietnam eCommerce White Book in 2022:

• 88% of people’s means of accessing the Internet are mobile phones, while this rate will only reach 57% in 2021.
• The percentage of Internet users participating in online shopping is 74.8%.
• 91% of the electronic means commonly used to order online are mobile phones.
• Among online shopping channels, 47% of users make purchases through mobile shopping applications.

In upcoming years, the percentage of global people and Vietnamese people as well who own mobile devices and use them for online shopping is high and predicted to increase significantly. 

Social Commerce

Social commerce refers to the method through which companies advertise and sell goods and services online using social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Zalo, etc. In other words, this type of business combines eCommerce and social media.

The impact of social networks has grown significantly in recent years. Over 59% of the world’s population uses social media, it is not surprising that this percentage will continue to rise. 

While in the past businesses used social media to raise brand awareness and draw in new customers, today eCommerce businesses boost sales by offering goods and services to clients online via social media.

As a result, it’s incredibly handy for customers to interact, exchange information, and search and shop online all in one location.

According to Statista, global social commerce sales will reach $992 billion in 2022 and are projected to reach nearly $3 trillion by 2026.

Thanks to the development of social networks, social commerce has had a strong acceleration and has become a magnet for brands to come to approach and analyze a large number of potential customers, and achieve marketing and sales goals.

As a result, failing to prioritize social commerce in enterprises’ marketing strategies in 2023 is probably to lead to a significant loss of competitive advantages in the eCommerce market.

Headless Commerce

Today, businesses have a lot of choices to build an eCommerce website, but basically, the structure of a website will include the following main parts:

• Frontend: Everything the user sees and interacts with when accessing the website including the interface, content, and functions,… is received from the backend.
• Backend: All the active parts of the website or app that are not visible to the user such as the database system, design tools, management tools, and custom functions.

For websites using a traditional structure, the frontend and backend will be operated on the same platform and from there will be closely connected with each other. Therefore, any changes on the website will be edited in two parts at the same time. However, with Headless Commerce, the backend and frontend will be decoupled from each other and operate independently on two separate systems.

The benefits of deploying Headless Commerce:

• Increase customization
• Increase Scalability
• Increase the page load speed
• Seamless integration
• Multi-channel sales support

By using the Headless structure, Nike has become a brand with a much larger market share than Adidas – a formidable competitor of Nike.

Moreover, Nike’s website recorded more than 60 million pageviews in just 1 month. In addition, the proportion of direct purchases without intermediaries also increased significantly.

From Nike’s Case Study, one of the practical alternatives for companies looking to encourage eCommerce sales growth is Headless Commerce.

Shoppertainment

Shoppertainment is a form of shopping combined with entertainment that is used as a marketing strategy to encourage customer engagement with brands and consequently increase shopping demand. Moreover, it is used and takes over most of the online commerce in the era of digital transformation, when eCommerce is positioned at the forefront of contemporary business trends.

Some common practices of Shoppertainment trends:

• Live selling
• Shoppable video
• Gamification

These three practices all focus on entertainment and interaction. Then, the emotional element is aroused, leading to a series of unwise and unplanned shopping decisions. From a business perspective, this is beneficial for brands. TikTok‘s recent research proves it:

• In Southeast Asia, 82% of consumers purchase goods from companies they hardly ever use.
• 55% of consumers have made unplanned purchases.
• After watching videos on TikTok, 89% of consumers made unplanned purchases.
• Half of TikTok users confess to finding new brands or products while using the app.
• One in three customers desires to purchase and is satisfied with it.
• One in three customers wants to add fun and entertainment to shopping.

The growth of the Shoppertainment trend in recent years demonstrates the extreme demand for social interaction and connection following the period of Covid’s life.

Shoppertainment is the solution that businesses seek. This is a way to make the most of the customer’s biggest weakness – emotions.

When feelings of euphoria and joy are elicited during the shopping process, customers engage more, and purchase more unplanned products, conversion rates are higher, and sales follow.

AI Technology

Artificial intelligence now has a significant impact on eCommerce businesses in providing solutions to optimize the online shopping experience of customers. 

The following statistics demonstrate the incredible influence of AI on the eCommerce market and businesses operating in this field:

• The AI-powered eCommerce market is estimated to reach 16.8 billion USD by 2030 (InsightAce Analytics).
• In the retail eCommerce market, the value of AI is predicted to increase from $1.7 million in 2021 to $36.4 million in 2030 (Precedence Research).
• 78% of brands have used AI for eCommerce websites (Oracle) 
• Chatbot’s market value is predicted to reach 3.99 billion USD by 2030 (Grandview Research).
• It is predicted that eCommerce transactions made through Chatbots will reach 112 billion USD in 2023 (Business Solution).
• The cost of using AI Chatbots for customer care is 30% lower than hiring personnel to do this (Business Solution).
• 79% of eCommerce business owners admit that combining AI with marketing and sales helps increase the company’s revenue (McKinsey).
• 54% of businesses in France think that AI is good for analyzing eCommerce data (Statista).
• 70% of eCommerce business leaders in Europe and North America think that AI technology can help optimize customer experience personalization (Statista).
• 37% of users who click on an AI-driven eCommerce recommendation on their first visit to a website, return the next day (Investp).

Currently, there are two applications of AI technology that are commonly used in eCommerce:

Chatbots

For eCommerce businesses, Chatbots will be like salespeople who can interact directly with customers 24/7. This helps businesses narrow the distance in terms of geography and time zones, helping the sales and customer services process to take place effectively without interruption.

Personalized Advertising Campaigns

By collecting customer data, AI can create tailored content and recommendations for each specific customer. To improve marketing campaigns and personalize the customer experience, AI can also predict purchasing behavior based on a user’s browsing and search history, when the data is legally available.

VR/AR Technology

VR (Virtual Reality) is a modern technology that brings users into a simulated but still very realistic space with only 3D glasses (virtual reality glasses). The virtual world that the user sees is actually set up and controlled by a highly configurable computer system.

AR (Augmented Reality) is a new technology enhanced from VR technology. This technology has the potential to erase the boundary between the real world and the virtual 3D model. That is, users will experience virtual models in real space through smartphones or computers.

With a clear plan and the appropriate approach, Lazada has been in front of the augmented reality trend for a number of years and developed a certain competitive advantage in luring both consumers and sellers.

In particular, the VTO (Virtual Try On) function on Lazada includes a wealth of features to assist customers in freely selecting and trying goods like eyeshadow, eyeliner, foundation, and cushions whenever and wherever they like.

Since its launch, LazMall brand partners in the cosmetics sector have experienced tremendous success with the VTO function, which has helped to boost conversion rates by 3.1x and average order values by up to 11%.

KOL/KOC 

The rapid growth of social networks and eCommerce has given marketing efforts a fresh and original breeze thanks to KOL/KOC. Although KOL and KOC have long existed in some form, they have truly taken off in recent years.

KOL – Key opinion leader, also known as an “influencer”, is an individual or organization with expert product knowledge and influence in their field or industry.

KOC – Key Opinion Consumers are “the most influential consumers in the market”. Their job is to test products and services and make comments and reviews.

KOL will suit mid- to high-end brands, while KOC will suit mid-range brands. If KOL is used to select brand ambassadors, holiday season ambassadors, or product launch campaigns, KOC is used to boost sales in a short time or direct customers to websites or eCommerce platforms.

Some famous KOLs in Vietnam: Helly Tong, Giang Oi, Dino Vu, Co em Trendy, Chau Bui, Khanh Vy, Khoai Lang Thang,…

Some famous KOCs in Vietnam: Ha Linh, Call Me Duy, 1m88, Ong Giao Review, Chau Muoi, Hoang Viet, Pu Met 7,…

BOPIS

BOPIS – Buy Online Pick-up In Store is one of the shopping trends that promise to explode in 2023. Customers won’t have to be concerned about shipping costs, extended delivery times, or the risk of receiving unexpected goods when using BOPIS.

Businesses all around the world are pushing up their BOPIS implementation to meet customer expectations when merging online buying with in-person pickup. This is the ideal approach to boost store visits and close the gap between the offline and online buying experiences.

According to GlobeNewswire, the global BOPIS market is projected to reach $703 billion by 2027 with an estimated CARG of 19.3% between 2021-2027.

In addition, the following BOPIS trend statistics can help businesses consider implementing in 2023:

• In the last 6 months of 2022, 67% of US consumers use BOPIS.
• 49% of BOPIS consumers admit to buying more products while in store to pick up their items.
• 65% of customers choose BOPIS to avoid shipping costs.

The BOPIS model also aids businesses in cutting expenses, expediting deliveries, boosting demand for retail goods, and lowering the risk of product returns.

UGC

User Generated Content, also known as UGC, includes text, photos, video and reviews. Because people are becoming less and less engaged in the brand’s message over the past ten years, UGC has grown in importance.

According to a recent Salesforce survey, 53% of Millennials think user-generated content (UGC) influences their shopping decisions, and 92% of consumers prefer content created by friends and family over that created by brands. The reason for the above numbers is trust.

Therefore, user-generated content (UGC), such as photos, videos, and customer evaluations, is trustworthy social proof and aids in the development of a company’s reputation.

In a nutshell, businesses must quickly adapt to evolving eCommerce and digital technology trends in order to avoid falling behind and being driven out of the market. By reading 10 eCommerce trends that stated and analyzed above, businesses will have an overview to be ready for the new journey.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

Over time, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly damaged the world economy, with significant consequences for investors and business owners across a wide range of sectors, including the wine sector.

Sales of alcoholic beverages have decreased dramatically as a result of the closure of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs as well as the postponement of big events and festivals.

Despite the global economic issues, eCommerce must be considered among the industries that perform very well. Some companies across multiple areas have enthusiastically embraced eCommerce to weather the downturn.

Also, wine firms follow that wave of change, making eCommerce shine in the new era – the era of digital transformation. 

Why 2023 is the perfect year to deploy wine eCommerce?

Wine eCommerce growth statistic

• Wine eCommerce sales reached $6 billion in 2021, an increase of 131% compared to 2020. In the two years 2021-2022, online wine sales increased by 4%, while in 2020 they only increased by 2%.
•  The online revenue of the wine market reached more than 261 billion USD in 2022 and is expected to grow at 10.51% annually from 2022 to 2025.
• According to IWSR, the global wine eCommerce market value will reach $42 billion by 2024.
• An estimated 1.6% of the total liquor market revenue in 2023 will be generated from online sales.
• The average annual growth rate of wine eCommerce in the US is around 20%.

Key drivers of wine eCommerce growth

Global Pandemic

In the midst of the global pandemic-related crises, the wine business, like many others, saw a breakthrough in the speed of online purchasing.

When the pandemic breakout occurred, 44% of American consumers placed their first-ever online wine and liquor orders.

The year 2020 saw a 42% increase in wine eCommerce as a result. Online wine sales increased from just $1 billion in 2018 to $6 billion by 2021.

Young wine consumer

In the US, according to Avalara, Millennials and the legal drinking age population are steadily increasing.

By 2023, the Millennial generation is estimated to account for nearly 45% of the LDA (Legal Drinking Age) population under the age of 80. By 2030, this number is projected to be 54%.

In Vietnam, Millennials (25–38 years old) and Gen Z (18–24 years old), often known as MillennialZ, currently make up 47% of the population or about 45 million people who are of drinking age. The population structure of the MillennialZ generation is expected to keep growing.

The primary factors influencing the growth of the eCommerce sector as well as the digital economy of Vietnam will also be the young people’s awareness of and keeping up with new trends in digital technology compared to previous generations.

Case study

iShop Changi Wines

The Duty Free Shop Group (DFS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) collaborated on the iShop Changi Wines eCommerce online project, which offers world-renowned and premium wines and spirits with exclusive discounts to visitors to Changi Airport, particularly those who are CAG members.

The iShop Changi Wines website is cutting-edge and exquisitely styled, showcasing the distinctive qualities of the wine industry as well as the aesthetics from page layout, color, font text, logo, and banner, all of which are guaranteed to optimize the purchasing experience while also, and this is crucial, emphasizing the identity and brand-development elements for both CAG and DFS.

Due to the fact that this is a project of well-known companies, the iShop Changi Wines website has consistently received a lot of traffic, averaging approximately 592 thousand views each month since its introduction.

Therefore, to combat the unexpected surge in traffic and orders during the busiest shopping seasons of the year, the eCommerce system must be continually enhanced and optimized.

The fact that major corporations CAG and DFS both started and developed successful wine eCommerce websites shows the enormous potential of this industry now and in the future.

Previously, the business scope of wine businesses was quite limited, but now that limit has been broken thanks to the dominance of the Internet and the rise of eCommerce.

Moreover, the government’s assistance in lowering legal restrictions has given wine producers the assurance to confidently market their goods to a significant number of potential buyers in several nations across the world.

The Warehouse

The Warehouse, established in 2001, is renowned as a top supplier of wines and spirits in Vietnam, offering more than 16 different varieties of wine from numerous nations.

In addition, along with Annam Gourmet Market, Yves Rocher, and Flormar, this is another well-known retail brand of the Nam Group. Before being formally put on the market, products at The Warehouse are consistently inspected and carefully chosen to fulfill quality criteria.

The company has so far increased the reach of its distribution network across the nation, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Quang Ninh, and Phu Quoc.

The Warehouse achieved its objective of serving the wine market with B2B and B2C business models by utilizing the Magento platform.

This implies that the business will broaden the retail channel to include private customers in addition to distributing wines to restaurants, hotels, resorts, pubs, and lounges.

A series of symbols, logos, and banners created especially to fit the characteristics of the wine industry are combined with Bordeaux red to create a website interface that is focused on UI/UX perfection.

The Warehouse is flexible, secure, and has quick ordering, payment, and delivery options. Therefore, customers can place orders through phone, mobile app, or eCommerce website.

Customers can then pick up their purchases from the store or, in major cities like HCM, Hanoi, and Da Nang, the company will deliver them quickly within 2 to 3 hours. In other places, conventional courier delivery takes 2 to 5 days.

The Warehouse has been successful in raising brand recognition, expanding its customer base, and increasing both offline and online sales as a result of the timely growth of its business model and digital transformation

Trentham Estate

Long-standing Australian company Trentham Estate Winery, founded in 1988, focuses on the manufacture and distribution of wine.

After many years in business, the company is well regarded for its creativity in the wine-making process, which resulted in a variety of wines with different delicious flavors. Also, the brand has received hundreds of medals, titles, and other industry awards.

In the beginning, the business created and ran a WordPress website system for branding purposes.

Trentham Estate, however, has been forced to increase its company scale by making a substantial investment in an entire eCommerce website system due to the growth of eCommerce and the increasingly varied purchasing needs of potential clients.

In the beginning, the business created and ran a WordPress website system for branding purposes. Trentham Estate, however, has been forced to increase its company scale by making a substantial investment in an entire eCommerce website system due to the growth of eCommerce and the increasingly varied purchasing needs of potential clients.

That is what led to the creation of the website trenthamestate.com.au, which has a modern interface while still accurately capturing the distinctive features of the wine industry.

Similar to The Warehouse, Trentham Estate likewise creates an eCommerce website based on the Magento platform with a variety of features that satisfies eCommerce requirements and wine industry specifics.

Therefore, businesses can access and serve a wide range of large customer files not only in Australia and internationally thanks to effective marketing and branding strategies, towards a sustainable business model along with the changes of the digital age. 

​​It would be hard to believe that an industry as sensitive as wine could be traded online so easily and efficiently. In that efficiency and convenience, there is a great contribution of the trend of eCommerce and the comprehensive National Digital Transformation program that is committed to supporting by the Government. This is an extremely appropriate time for wine businesses to confidently deploy eCommerce because of the support from the Government and the push from the market.

However, planning to implementation are two completely different categories. Businesses are required to have a practical strategy and technical assistance from highly skilled firms to hasten the success journey and help advance the National Digital Transformation goal. 

SECOMM has many years of expertise in effectively executing eCommerce for numerous customers in various countries. We specialize in offering free consultation services with qualified eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact us right away for free counsel and assistance.

Cosmetics eCommerce is currently developing into a fresh and promising sales channel for companies in addition to the traditional sales channel. Businesses must work hard to sustain and achieve breakthrough growth through eCommerce platforms, though.

As a result, numerous cosmetics companies started developing online cosmetics business websites and found surprising success, such as Kylie Cosmetics, Hasaki, and Guardian,…

These websites’ success can be attributed to their early selection of an adequate and suitable eCommerce platform. Which platforms are appropriate for the cosmetics industry, then?

Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC) is a highly flexible SaaS eCommerce platform that allows companies to offer the best B2B and B2C shopping experiences. Moreover, Salesforce gives Commerce Cloud access to Einstein AI to further enhance this system’s intelligence.

Top cosmetic brands currently using Salesforce Commerce Cloud to deploy eCommerce include L’Occitane, Lancôme, Loreal, Nars, Neutrogena, NYX Cosmetics, and Shiseido,…

Pros:

• SFCC offers a flexible and scalable hosting infrastructure as a cloud-based SaaS platform, and this vendor will be in charge of configuration, updates, maintenance, security, etc., helping users save time and money in these areas.
• Since SFCC is practically a ready-made solution, businesses only need to express their ideas, and SFCC’s IT team will develop them in a matter of weeks.
• The amazingly functional system supports cosmetic eCommerce businesses by allowing customers to select product sizes, purchase items in sets, take advantage of shock deals and flash sales, and receive new customer discounts and loyalty points.
• Unlike other SaaS platforms, SFCC scales and manages traffic spikes for sales seasons and other unplanned events with ease.
• Synchronizing sales channels, reaching, and serving clients across many channels are made possible by omnichannel solutions for the cosmetics industry.

Cons:

• Developers and businesses are required extensive SFCC understanding.
• SFCC charges users on a revenue-based model. Depending on the selected plan package, customers will pay 1 or 2% GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) to preserve website ownership. This means that the higher the revenue, the more expenses must be paid to SFCC.
• Limited integration with 3rd party services.

=> SFCC is suitable for B2C and B2B cosmetic businesses.

Magento

Magento is a popular open-source commerce platform in the field of eCommerce, with nearly 200,000 websites in use. Currently, Magento has 2 versions: Magento Open Source (free), and Magento Commerce (paid).

Cosmetic eCommerce websites built successfully on the Magento platform with high brand awareness include Laneige, Sigma Beauty, and Hasaki,…

Pros:

• Many cosmetics themes from the global developer community and Magento website developers so businesses can use existing themes which easy to customize or use self-designed themes.
• Functional systems from basic to advanced, specialized for the cosmetic industry such as choosing product size, buying in sets, exclusive deals, product suggestions, viewed products, member incentives, etc.
• Due to its comprehensive customization options, Magento enables businesses to fully own, control, and customize the source code, facilitating the efficient operation of systems. Moreover, Magento may be customized to fit the eCommerce requirements of enterprises of various sizes.
• Highly scalable, beneficial for future system expansion, and featuring multiple sites, stores, languages, and currencies.
• Because Magento is a complete eCommerce system, it can guarantee smooth operation and minimize potential dangers from data systems and transaction processes, resulting in high security. As a result, the reputation of the website, system safety, and user rights are all improved.
• There is a huge skilled Magento developer community present worldwide, ready to help with technical issues as well as provide assistance in creating eCommerce solutions appropriate for each business model.

Cons: 

• There is no repository of themes from Magento to support businesses.
• Implementation typically takes three to six months, but it might take up to a year due to a sophisticated functioning system.
• Although the platform is free to use, the cost of implementing eCommerce with Magento is quite high, about $50,000-$100,000 depending on the complexity of the project.

=> Magento is appropriate for a range of cosmetics business types, including B2B, B2C, and B2B2C, as well as for various business sizes, including start-ups, SMEs, and major companies. However, large organizations use Magento because it is frequently relatively expensive to deploy.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows businesses to transform a regular WordPress website into a professional eCommerce website with full features and easy customization with just a few simple steps.

A few good examples of big brands that have built successful eCommerce websites with WooCommerce and generated huge sales such as: MOI Cosmetics, Bo Shop, Nuty Cosmetics, AB Beauty World, Beauty Garden,. ..

Pros:

• There are many free and premium themes from the WordPress and WooCommerce communities for the cosmetics sector which are easy to customize or businesses can use self-designed themes.
• Functional systems from basic to advanced for cosmetic eCommerce business such as similar product suggestions, viewed products, discount vouchers, and new customer incentives,…
• Easy integration with a variety of 3rd party services.
• The cost of building an eCommerce website is not too high compared to other open-source platforms like Magento, with total annual costs ranging from $110 to $1,500+ for domains, hosting, themes, extensions, plugins, etc.
• eCommerce website implementation time with WooCommerce takes about 1 to 3 months to complete.

Cons:

• The functional system is still limited in terms of features specific to the cosmetics industry.
• The scalability is not as high compared to other open-source platforms such as Open Cart, and Magento because it depends on the WordPress system.

=> WooCommerce will be suitable for cosmetics businesses that are familiar with the WordPress platform and want to develop an eCommerce system.

Shopify

Shopify is a popular SaaS platform in the world that provides a variety of solutions for businesses of all sizes to successfully build eCommerce websites. After being in the market for about 20 years, Shopify has gradually grown to become one of the top eCommerce platforms in the world, trusted by many Vietnamese and foreign companies. 

Kylie Cosmetics, Innisfree, Sulwhasoo, Cho Tinh Cua Boo, Guardian, and Ofélia are some examples of companies in the cosmetics industry leveraging Shopify for eCommerce websites and enjoying great success.

Pros:

• Available and diverse themes for the cosmetics industry.
• Functional system from basic to advanced, supporting eCommerce business such as similar product suggestions, viewed products, discount vouchers, and new customer incentives.
• The initial cost is quite reasonable with a variety of options for businesses from $29/month to about $2,000/month.
• The time to build an eCommerce website is quite fast from 1-7 days, or more depending on the complexity of the system.
• Shopify has a large developer community to serve businesses.

Cons:

• The layout of existing templates causes duplicating, and it’s challenging to alter themes or create your own interface because doing so will have an adverse effect on the entire system.
• The system of specific functions for the cosmetics sector is still limited.
• A wider range of 3rd party services but still only integrated with services available in Shopify’s app store.
• Deployment costs are both advantages and disadvantages of Shopify when the initial cost is quite reasonable, but in the long run, businesses have to pay the cost of using the platform, interface, application, etc., regularly every month. This makes it difficult to manage cash flow.
• Because it is a SaaS platform, it will be difficult for Shopify to expand its website in the future.

=> Shopify is considered suitable for start-ups or SMEs with global operations.

Haravan

Haravan is a leading technology firm in Vietnam, that was founded in 2014, with the intention of eventually extending to many other Southeast Asian nations.

It specializes in offering businesses and merchants in Vietnam solutions for eCommerce, engagement marketing, and omnichannel retail.

Haravan has gained the trust of many companies in the cosmetics industry as a result of the efficiency of the website system that the business has created and the ground-breaking online retail sales.

The Face Shop, The World of Lipsticks, The World Skin Food, and Lam Thao Cosmetics are some well-known cosmetics companies in Vietnam that have launched eCommerce websites using the Haravan platform.

Pros:

• Available and diverse themes for the cosmetics industry.
• Wide range of applications, from basic to advanced to start an eCommerce business.
• Reasonable eCommerce deployment cost, various packages from 200,000 VND/month to 3,000,000 VND/month, making it easy for customers to choose.
• ​​The time to build an eCommerce website is fast, only about 30 minutes for businesses to own a website with all the necessary features to get started. However, for the website to work effectively, businesses need to spend more time researching and developing the system.

Cons:

• The layout of existing templates causes duplicating, and it’s challenging to alter themes or create your own interface because doing so will have an adverse effect on the entire system.
• The system of specific functions for the cosmetics sector is still limited.
• Only integrated with services/utilities located in Haravan’s ecosystem.
• Because it is a SaaS platform, it will be difficult for Haravan to expand the website in the future.

=> Haravan is suitable for start-up cosmetics businesses or SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) with operations mainly in Vietnam.

An extremely critical first step in developing a cosmetic eCommerce website is selecting the appropriate platform. Businesses may develop websites more quickly and affordably while enhancing their competitive advantage and sustainable growth by choosing the right eCommerce platform.

The improper platform, on the other hand, will cost firms a lot of money and effort to adopt and switch platforms repeatedly. Therefore, in order to select the best platform, organizations must take into account the objectives and issues with the current model.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional eCommerce implementation solutions. 

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

The Covid-19 pandemic not only encourages the tremendous growth of eCommerce but also helps shift consumers’ priorities from in-store to online buying. However, instead of just buying, consumers frequently prefer to seek out novel, inspiring experiences.

Therefore, every company should strive to implement the approach of shopping combined with entertainment (Shoppertainment) in order to improve marketing effectiveness and boost sales.

What is Shoppertainment?

Shoppertainment is a combination of two elements “shopper/shopping” and “entertainment”.

Shoppertainment is described as “the provision of recreational or leisure facilities within or next to a retail store or shopping center, as part of a marketing strategy, which is designed to attract customers and stimulate purchasing” in the Oxford Dictionary (1990).

Many companies, notably IKEA, the biggest furniture retailer in the world, have used shoppertainment with success in the past. IKEA launched a campaign in 2019 called “IKEA nightclub – Tonight is to sleep” for 100 lucky individuals.

During this campaign, customers can partake in activities like manicures, massages, snacks, and tea instead of cocktails before spending the night in rooms with IKEA furniture that is soon to be released.

The brand has had remarkable sales success thanks to the campaign’s resonance in North America.

The shoppertainment trend, however, is no longer just restricted to stores or other physical locations thanks to the growth of eCommerce and digital marketing but has instead gained popularity and taken over online shopping activities.

In comparison to the prior definition, shoppertainment has been enlarged and changed. Shoppertainment is a trend that combines online shopping with entertainment, allowing buyers to engage with merchants in addition to purchasing products as usual.

In Vietnam and in the Asia-Pacific region, certain forms of entertainment-infused shopping are very common. Examples include live streaming, shoppable videos, and gamification.

What role does shoppertainment play in eCommerce?

According to the Vietnam eCommerce White Paper 2022, the size of the retail eCommerce market in Vietnam will increase from $11.8 billion in 2020 to $13.7 billion in 2021 and is estimated to reach 16.4 billion USD in 2022.

Meanwhile, the percentage of consumers shopping online on eCommerce websites is 78% in 2021, up 4% over the same period last year.

Because of the urgency, lack of options, and social isolation, the effects of the epidemic have actually contributed to a change in consumption tendencies from in-person purchases to online purchases.

Since that time, it has seen the quick decline of the conventional commerce model and the rise of eCommerce. By 2026, Statista projects that eCommerce sales will total $8.1 trillion.

Additionally, it is not surprising that consumers like shoppertainment. Although this combination is not novel, it promises to set the consumption trend in the years to come as eCommerce takes center stage.

The demand for online shopping will be higher there, and expectations for the best shopping experience—including both online shopping and fascinating experiences will also be higher.

Retail businesses around the world have seen a significant rise in sales during the outbreak by combining online shopping with live streams, entertainment videos, and video games to create real-time digital interactions with customers.

For instance, Taobao Live, which Alibaba introduced in 2016, saw a 150% surge in sales in 2020 when the epidemic first appeared in China.

“Shoppertainment is now a basic expectation. You really have to leverage engaging tools so the shopper gets to learn about the product, its superiority, and has fun along the way,” notes Alex Vogler, senior director and head of marketing, eBusiness, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Asia, Middle East, and Africa. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the human psyche, causing issues including depression and anxiety. On the other hand, a portion of the populace said that the social connections they were unable to have prior to the epidemic significantly improved their psychological well-being.

People need to connect with the community and others like them more than just for amusement. Brands have therefore concentrated on improving the consumer experience by transforming personal experiences into shared ones that bring communities together.

As an example, consider the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. Through the TikTok platform, users can easily and amusingly share their shopping experiences, resulting in videos going viral and receiving more than 4.5 billion views.

Shoppertainment will result in emotional and impulsive purchasing decisions since it emphasizes entertainment and connection. According to a recent TikTok research:

• In Southeast Asia, 82% of consumers purchase goods from companies they hardly ever use.
• 55% of consumers have made unplanned purchases.
• After watching videos on TikTok, 89% of consumers made unplanned purchases.
• Half of TikTok users confess to finding new brands or products while using the app.
• One in three customers desires to purchase and is satisfied with it.
• One in three customers wants to add fun and entertainment to shopping.

The studies mentioned above demonstrated the enormous influence that social networks and online shopping trends have on consumer decisions.

Because of this, Vietnamese retail companies have prioritized shoppertainment in their marketing plans.

Customers demand a more social and engaging online shopping experience, as well as the ability to connect and converse with one another while buying, which is the reason for any of this.

Best Shoppertainment practices

Live Selling

In recent years, both buyers and sellers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area have grown accustomed to live selling. Live selling is less common in the US and Europe than it is in APAC, but businesses there are nonetheless keeping an eye on this trend.

For instance, AliExpress initially introduced the live selling feature in France in May 2020, and since then, more than 3,000 live programs have been launched, with the involvement of more than 100 vendors.

The combination of sales, interaction, and entertainment makes this one of the top social selling strategies. Customers can interact with vendors directly, view actual product photos, and make decisions by pushing their shopping emotions.

Plus, the engaging social interactions that take place throughout live streaming help retailers make an impact on customers, resulting in a high return rate.

Due to the growth of the Shoppertainment trend and the effectiveness of live streaming in generating sales through social networks, eCommerce marketplaces have started to put more of an emphasis on investing in producing engaging entertainment material for users on their apps, particularly through live streaming.

The customer buying experience is improved by several well-known live stream channels, like TaobaoLive, LazLive, Shopee Live, TikiLive, etc.

These companies have the resources to develop this feature for themselves, but lower-budgeted companies can still try the live-selling concept by integrating Facebook or YouTube live stream with an eCommerce website.

Shoppable Video

Live-streaming videos will be effectively replaced by shoppable videos. One of the joys of using this type of video is that companies may produce videos in their own distinctive styles that quickly introduce customers to their products, explain how they operate, and demonstrate how to use them. These videos can be attached to an eCommerce website. Users can always click the product link in this kind of short video to find out extra details or to make a purchase. The short-form video has overtaken popular platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Youtube Shorts as the go-to method for branding, cultivating customer trust, and influencing purchasing decisions.

83% of people, according to Nielsen study, prefer watching videos of advertisements to GIFs or text. Short-form videos have gained popularity as a result of global digital transformation and consumer preference, and many brands now opt to use those as part of their video marketing strategies due to their useful advantages, which include the following:

• Simplify the customer journey
• Increase customer engagement
• Improve the conversion rates
• Get a boost in sales
• Create brand loyalty
• Build a better customer experience

Gamification

Gamification or Gamification  Marketing is the skillful incorporation of a video game’s mechanics into promotional operations in a unique and impressive method to meet marketing objectives.

Gamification’s primary advantage, similar to live selling, is engagement, which keeps people on the site, drives conversions, and boosts sales.

Users are actually more likely to return for more shopping if a business can convince them that engaging with it is an interesting experience rather than a transaction.

A study by Bazaar Voice demonstrates the impact of gamification on businesses’ marketing strategies as follows:

• 70% of shoppers want gaming elements incorporated into online shopping.
• But only 42% of shoppers enjoy gaming in-store.

For instance, take Bajaj Finserv’s Indian financial company’s Gamification Marketing campaign. The game was created by this firm to encourage people to use its travel loan services.

Users will complete tasks and respond to questions about their preferred travel destinations. Customers adored the campaign, and it immediately trended on Twitter with more than 75 million impressions.

Thus demonstrating Bajaj Finserv’s efforts to develop engaging experiences and provide them to customers in line with its marketing strategy. Brands attract more potential customers, enjoy the better engagement, and increase conversions as a result of the viral impact.

Shoppertainment has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until Covid-19’s effect that this trend truly took off. Businesses should take advantage of this trend to improve the online shopping experience for customers and increase sales in the era of eCommerce.

Due to the growing demands of customers for a better shopping experience and the ongoing changes in the market, achieving this goal is difficult and labor-intensive. As a result, companies must work with expert agencies to plan the proper eCommerce deployment from the start.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

When the Prime Minister approved the “National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030,” national digital transformation became formally a goal shared by the entire Vietnamese people in 2020.

Since then, localities, ministries, branches, and even the government have all gradually incorporated the term “Digital Transformation” and applications of digital technology into their everyday activities.

Thus, we all realize the significance and impact of the digital transformation trend. What essential elements, nevertheless, determine the National Digital Transformation Program’s success or failure?

Overview

What is Digital Transformation?

The process of using digital technology to completely alter each person’s lifestyle, each company’s business model, and each nation’s government operations in order to create new values and prospects for future development is referred to as transformation, also known as digital transformation.

Today, all businesses, big and small, have to decide whether to embrace innovation or risk lagging behind, becoming ineffective, and going out of business.
Furthermore, digital transformation involves- not just comprehending and utilizing technology but, more importantly, reinventing the complete business strategy as well as the vision and development priorities of the nation in relation to the global development trend.

According to data from Mordor Intelligence, the digital transformation age is shining in practically “every nook” of the global economy, confirming that this is not a “soon to fade” trend but rather a new and sustainable development orientation following the pandemic crisis.

• The estimated value of the global market for digital transformation is $998.99 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $2744.68 billion by 2026. The compound annual growth is 17.42%.
• Global spending on digital transformation is expected to reach $1.6 trillion by the end of 2022 and surpass $3.4 trillion by 2026.
• Over 90% of global businesses, both large and small, are adopting digital initiatives.
• 97% of business executives say the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred digital transformation efforts.
• 95% of startups have a digital business plan compared to 87% of traditional, established companies.
• According to statistics, currently, only 13% of jobs do not require digital skills, and 33% are jobs that require proficiency and advanced digital skills.

In Vietnam alone, the government has established a National Digital Transformation Program for 2025, with a vision to 2030, with particular targets to shorten the distance with other countries around the world, including:

• 80% of online public services at level 4 are performed on mobile devices.
• 90% of work records at ministerial and provincial levels are online while 80 percent of work records at the district level and 60 percent of work records at the commune level are processed online.
• All national databases including those for population, land, business registration, finance, and insurance are online and connected, with shared data on a government reporting information system.
• 50% of banking operations by customers are to be fully online.
• 50% of the population has a digital checking account.
• 70% of customer transactions are made through digital channels.
• 50% of decisions on lending, small and consumer loans of individual customers made digitally and are automated.
• The digital economy accounts for 20% of GDP.
• The rate of the digital economy in each industry, and each field accounts for at least 10%, and labor productivity increases by at least 7%.
• Vietnam is among the top 50 leading countries in information technology, the top 30 countries in innovation, and the top 50 countries on the competitiveness index.
• Fiber optic network infrastructure covers 80% of households and 100% of communes.
• Universalize 4G/5G mobile networks and use smartphones in remote areas.
• The percentage of the population with electronic payment accounts is over 50%

Why is Digital Transformation important?

The fact that the goals are stated in great detail in the national digital transformation program with a focus on 2030 demonstrates how seriously the Vietnamese government takes the significance of digital transformation for the prosperous growth of the nation.

Think about the global Industrial Revolution 4.0 wave that is currently in motion. With the aid of connection provided by the Internet of Things (IoT), real-time data access, and the introduction of cyber-physical systems, the Industrial Revolution 4.0, also known as Industry 4.0, primarily focuses on advancing modern digital technology to an entirely new level.

Every Government, organization, corporation, and individual throughout the world must transform its business model, and the manner of working from non-digital to digital operation, in order to keep up with this current technology and immerse itself in the Industry 4.0 wave. The name of this procedure is “digital transformation”.

Vietnam, despite having a minor economy compared to other countries, is a crucial part of the massive Industrial Revolution 4.0 that is currently underway. Vietnam must therefore undergo a digital transformation in order to compete.

The goal will be challenging to accomplish if just businesses execute digital transformation because the capital and costs are quite high; therefore, businesses require assistance from the government budget and outside finance.

On the other hand, even with a massive budget, it can be challenging for businesses to implement effective digital transformation if the government does not go digital, but continues to run in the old manner, handles administrative procedures slowly, lacks direction, and supports businesses clearly and methodically.

​​Furthermore, without the support of the people, the National Digital Transformation process to catch up with the global Industry 4.0 wave will be impossible. However, the public needs the government to inform, direct, and inspire digital transformation.

Also, businesses must create useful digital transformation strategies that both before and after implementation considerably raise people’s quality of life.

Vietnam must structure three main areas of digital transformation: the government, businesses, and people, or in other words, the digital government, digital economy, and digital society, if national digital transformation is the outcome it seeks to achieve in order to gradually join the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

These three crucial overlapping and interdependent relationships make up the National Digital Transformation.

The current state of Vietnam’s National Digital Transformation 

Throughout the earlier years, Vinasa reports that in 2019, 40.6% of organizations and businesses confirmed that they have resources available for digital transformation and that 23.6% of them are putting it into practice. However, 30.7% of them are uncertain of what to do despite doing some research, and 38% are unsure of where to begin.

​​Due to the Prime Minister’s approval of the “National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030” and the abrupt change brought on by the impact of the global pandemic, Digital Transformation is now regarded as the process’ starting year. This makes it a top priority to maintain Vietnam’s economy.

The government and Vietnamese enterprises have been able to promote awareness of the importance and urgency of digital transformation in order to help the country overcome the obstacle thanks to the economic crisis brought on by the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.

According to the UN, Vietnam’s digital government statistics are better than the average for the area. Vietnam specifically saw a rise of 2 places in 2020, moving up to rank 86th out of 193 UN member states globally and 6th out of 11 Southeast Asian nations.

The establishment of the National Digital Transformation Committee and the decision to appoint October 10 of each year as National Digital Transformation Day in accordance with the National Digital Transformation policy for a better life for the people are two additional significant events that will forever be remembered in Vietnam in the years 2021 and 2022.

As a result, leaders and people are more conscious of the significance, function, and advantages of digital transformation, and there are coordinated actions throughout the entire system, from the government to the general populace.

According to data from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the databases that Vietnam has built up to the second quarter of 2022 include:

• Citizen data: Approximately 78 million data including birth registration, marriage registration, death registration,…
• Social insurance data: Over 17 million records.
• Vaccination data: Over 133 million records.
• Data of officials and employees: Over 570,000 records.
• Citizen ID card with the chip: Nearly 72 million records.

Additionally, the percentage of qualified online public services offered to individuals and enterprises has surpassed 97.3%; the percentage of these services that produce dossiers has gotten to 67.8% and the percentage of administrative procedures handled online has gotten to 43.2%.

Moreover, the economic sector has seen some very good improvements as a result of digital transformation. The Ministry of Information and Communications predicts that by the first quarter of 2022, the value of Vietnam’s digital economy will be 53 billion USD and that there would be 500 more newly founded digital technology businesses than there were at the same point in 2021.

The number of monthly users on Vietnamese mobile digital platforms climbed by more than 100 million compared to the same period in 2021, and the percentage of the digital economy in GDP increased to 10.41% in the first half of the year from 9.6% in the end of 2021.

3 key factors make National Digital Transformation successful

Based on specific analysis and data on the situation of National Digital Transformation in Vietnam, it is clear that there are 3 main pillars that lay the foundation for the success of the National Digital Transformation process: Digital Government, Digital Economy, and Digital Society.

Digital Government

In order to increase operational efficiency and develop new operating models and alter the way services are offered using digital technology and data, a government must transition all of its operations to a digital environment. This allows enterprises to take part in the service delivery process. In other words, this is how the government is becoming digital.

Vietnamese citizens have been instructed in the past to finish the registration processes necessary to access the Citizen Identity Card with a chip, which is gradually replacing the previous ID card. This serves as one illustration of how well the digital government is progressing in Vietnam.

The process of processing dossiers and issuing ID Cards in the early stages is not really effective because the National Database on Civil is still under construction and staff training on how to use digital technology and digitize paper data on the data system is still limited. However, the procedure for issuing chip-based ID cards in addition to the cost is public and transparent.

As a result, when people arrive at the location where the chip-based ID card is made, processing will go more quickly if their information is already in the National Database; otherwise, they will need to provide more birth certificates and household registration information and will have to wait a long time for staff to check, enter data, and complete related procedures.

After that, the chip-based ID card will be sent to the registered address by post, but for the above reason, this process also takes quite a while.

The Public Service Portal of the Ministry of Public Security, however, is currently supported by the government and simply requires people to visit the location to capture pictures and fingerprints.

This demonstrates the government’s prompt responsiveness in streamlining business procedures while also saving time for both citizens and employees. This is evidence of the Government’s ongoing attempts to modernize itself digitally.

In addition, on the CCCD chip, more than 14 information fields of citizens are stored: (1) CCCD number; (2) Full name, other names; (3) Date of birth, month, and year; (4) Gender; (5) Nationality; (6) Ethnicity; (7) Religion; (8) Hometown; (9) Place of permanent residence registration; (10) Identification characteristics; (11) Date of issue; (12) Expiration date;

(13) Full name of parent, spouse; (14) issued 9-digit ID card number; (15) Portrait photos; (16) Features of fingerprint extraction and selection of two index fingers; backup for iris images, and other information.

Moreover, a chip-based ID card can replace important papers such as Identity Cards, Health Insurance (HI), Social Insurance (Social Insurance), Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, and Household Registration Books….

It is clear that switching from conventional ID cards to chip-based ID cards has several advantages for both the general public and the government. People’s personal information is highly secure, preventing the creation of fake documents.

Also, ID cards with chips make paperwork and transactions straightforward because many pieces of crucial information are combined onto a single card, saving time and preventing the scenario where someone forgets to bring the necessary paperwork and causing the processing of documents to be interrupted.

The government made a wise choice by implementing chip-based ID cards.

The government can save, control, and check information about a specific individual quickly and efficiently with the use of chip-based ID cards and the National Database, helping to effectively control the situation of local security and order as well as national security.

Also, this helps free up labor for government employees who deal with people, handle paperwork, and maintain correctness, speed, and synchronization.

Digital Economy

The second factor that makes the success of the National Digital Transformation process is the Digital Economy.

Digital Economy is an economy that maintains and develops constantly based on modern digital technology. The digital economy is also known as the Internet Economy, the New Economy, or the Web Economy. This particular economy is made up of electronic transactions over the internet. 

According to the definition from the Vietnam Private Economic Forum, the digital economy is all economic activities based on digital platforms. Digital economy development is the use of digital technology and data to create a new model of cooperation and business, in line with the development trend of modern technology.

Therefore, everyone would immediately think of eCommerce when discussing the digital economy or the most prominent business model of the trend of digital transformation, and the strong push that this industry provides for high-volume industries catches the trend of digital transformation.

Few people anticipate that the conventional market model, which has become ingrained in Vietnamese culture, would soon be replaced by the market model 4.0, which accepts cashless payments. In several of Hai Phong’s traditional markets, this novel method of buying and selling was introduced for the first time, to the delight of the locals.

The Viettel Money application of Viettel Military Telecom Group, a pioneer in the digital transformation of market 4.0 models in 63 provinces/cities, enables all small businesses and individuals to purchase and sell things at the market by scanning QR codes or transferring money via phone number.

Moreover, cashless payment makes it easier for customers to shop at the market without worrying about issues like carrying change or budgeting extra cash for purchases. Also, many shopkeepers in the market are afraid of this issue pretty much.

Previously, if customers paid in cash with a denomination that was too big, shopkeepers would have to run everywhere to change money, causing time-consuming for both parties and other customers waiting to be served, the issue is now solved with just one smartphone.

Following the success of Hai Phong’s 4.0 market model, many other localities have also implemented this model and received positive feedback signals from the people such as Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Lang Son, etc.

The market 4.0 model has spread to every nook and cranny of the nation’s small trading places, including farmers’ markets, grocery stores, sidewalk shops, amusement parks, parking lots, and more.

The digital transformation trend has quickly extended to places where it was previously impossible, helping to advance the digital economy and achieve the objective of a comprehensive national digital transformation.

Digital Society

Finally, the term “digital society” refers to all human activities in a broad sense. Digital technology, which is based on the exponential growth of information and data, is the primary driver behind digital society.

It transforms all facets of social structure, from the government and business to the individual. In a limited sense, “digital society” refers to both digital citizenship and digital culture.

From this perspective, the three pillars of a digital nation are the digital society, the digital government, and the digital economy.

Teachers, parents, and students all adore the eLearning model, which is developing into a popular teaching and learning trend, especially in light of the recent pandemic and widespread implementation of social distancing policies.

Students can access lessons at any time, studying at home, using simply an electronic device with an Internet connection. As a result, teachings can be discussed and interacted with by professors and students without them having to actually meet.

This model also supports student doing teamwork well because it is not time- or space-constrained, saving on travel expenses in addition to using many other helpful resources.

However, for eLearning to really replace traditional teaching and learning methods, it takes a lot of effort from both the Government, the school system, and the student’s parents.

In fact, eLearning is only a small part of the digital society effort besides many other important aspects of society that need to be digitally transformed to make life more convenient for people.

National Digital Transformation has become one of Vietnam’s top goals and this is also a rare project that has received special attention from the highest levels of leadership and international support. Since then, Vietnam has had a full foundation to hope to realize the goal of becoming a digital country from now to 2030.

The development of a digital society, economy, and government, in particular, is a necessary and sufficient condition for a successful national digital transformation.

In fact, every citizen, from intellectuals to regular citizens, is gradually demonstrating a certain understanding in their own way about the digital transformation and awareness that the country is in a transition period to match the general development trend of the times.

This is in addition to the efforts of businesses and the support from the government. 

Especially for businesses, digital transformation is an imperative remedy to withstands to withstand the tsunami of eradication brought on by the pandemic’s rapid shift in new business patterns.

Following Covid-19, business digital transformation flowed slowly, gently, and steadily, assisting the economy’s continued rotation.

The first step of the digital transformation journey for businesses is to start implementing eCommerce.

With many years of experience in successfully implementing eCommerce for many customers in many countries, SECOMM specializes in providing consulting services with comprehensive and professional eCommerce implementation solutions.

Contact SECOMM today for free support and advice.

It’s important when it comes to choosing the right platform to build an effective eCommerce system. Businesses have many options to choose from either the open-source eCommerce platforms or any eCommerce platform as a service (SaaS, Paas), depending on the eCommerce business model and business plans.

To have a comprehensive eCommerce system, the open-source eCommerce platform is the business’s best friend, because of the great flexibility, scalability, customization according to the products, and catalogue characteristics.

In addition, the open-source platform also allows businesses to own the entire system source code and data. With all of these outstanding features, open-source platforms are slowly becoming the eCommerce development choices that many businesses are aiming for.   

However, businesses need to carefully consider choosing the right platform. There are a lot of open-source eCommerce platforms on the market (OpenCart, WooCommerce, Magento,…), and each platform has its pros and cons. 

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a WordPress plug-in introduced in 2011, completely free, and allows businesses to turn their WordPress sites into online stores, with built-in and additional features.

Pros

Ease of use

Many businesses that have been using WordPress for their online business, must be familiar with WooCommerce. Businesses can turn their website into an eCommerce system when implementing the WooCommerce Plugin into their WordPress website easily.

They can set up, integrate, and adjust functions on themes, and add-ons,… that have been built with high functionality from developers in a strong community around the world, making it easier to modify, and more flexible on the platform

In addition, WooCommerce is carefully built, convenient, also has huge and rich theme storage, and it is easy for businesses to design and build an e-commerce system right from the start, without knowing too much about technology. 

Rich in features and add-ons

WooCommerce allows and supports features such as product management, orders, inventory, search engine optimization (SEO), discounts, sales, statistics reports, easy integration of payment units, shipping, handling units, and shopping experience optimization on all devices, making it easy for businesses to build a comprehensive system for simple and effective e-commerce business development.

Regarding security, WooCommerce ensures that businesses have the best security through a regularly updated system, and also ensures all of the business transactions are secure and safe through the features from the third-party services.

Cons

Low performance

One of the biggest disadvantages for businesses using the WooCommerce platform is the low performance, the system is easily overloaded with plug-ins and themes, and the number of products does not surpass 2000 SKUs, and often affects the system if the number of products exceeds the limit. Therefore, when businesses want to expand their business, it is necessary to consider switching to another platform. 

Limited customization

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, the platform lets businesses customize their eCommerce system, but building a complete, and comprehensive eCommerce system with unique features is very limited. The modification can cause instability for the system as well as the possibility that those built-in features are not compatible with the platform.

To customize a suitable system based on the available features system, businesses will face many challenges, it takes a lot of time and resources.

WooCommerce is perfect for businesses that are using WordPress and are looking to develop an e-commerce system. However, WooCommerce is not perfect for developing a comprehensive e-commerce system and expanding the business model. Some brands are using WooCommerce around the world such as Pluralsight LLC, and Gordon College, and famous brands in Vietnam such as Vietnam Airlines, Pharmacity, etc.

OpenCart

OpenCart is an open-source CMS (Content Management System) using PHP language, similar to WordPress but specially designed for e-commerce.

Pros

Friendly interface and easy-to-use

OpenCart provides an intuitive, easy-to-use, friendly interface, which is specialized for  

the eCommerce industry. In addition, OpenCart also provides a completely free variety of interfaces and features, making it easy for businesses to develop e-commerce systems with basic website development knowledge and skills. Because OpenCart is built based on the MVC Model (Model- View- Controller), developing and writing a module for an e-commerce system on this platform is also quite easy. 

Full of basic e-commerce features and a variety of add-ons.

OpenCart supports businesses with every basic e-commerce feature. Since OpenCart is a CMS specially designed for e-commerce, the open-source commerce platform such as OpenCart fully supports basic e-commerce functions such as sales, sales management, data management, statistics, customer data lists, and invoices.

Businesses can easily create and manage many different stores on the same system without having too much technical knowledge. This also means that businesses can access and manage all data of multiple stores at the same time with just one single central OpenCart system.

Not only supporting businesses build and manage an eCommerce system, but OpenCart also supports marketing such as search engine optimization (SEO), keyword advertising (Adwords), marketing programs, and affiliate marketing programs to be able to reach customers more easily, increase sales on the eCommerce system.

On top of the basic e-commerce functions, OpenCart also has additional applications to support businesses such as daily business operations and product categories. The backup and restore function helps businesses always have a backup system in hand and ready to restore all of the data on the system in case of an emergency

Besides that the platform also has many features such as a shopping cart, support customers to buy many products at once; gift features issuing gift cards, and loyalty programs. In addition, businesses can integrate other utilities such as payment gateway VNPay, and PayCEC, to help businesses have a better, faster, and seamless shopping experience. 

Customization

With all of the basic features of an open-source program, businesses can easily modify, edit and customize on the OpenCart platform. In addition, the OpenCart e-commerce platform has a great ecosystem with many functions suitable for e-commerce business, firms can fully explore, as well as develop modules that are suitable for a satisfactory e-commerce system.

Cons

Although the OpenCart platform has many advantages that are the best fit for e-commerce businesses, there are also some limitations that businesses should be aware of when using the platform. 

Low performance, and unstable

Although the platform is highly rated and well designed for the eCommerce industry, the system is still not stable enough because the modules and functions are not fully optimized, many errors occur while operating, as well as the installation steps are still very perplexing.

Therefore, businesses still encounter many problems when building and operating, which might affect the business’s processing speed as well as the revenue.

Feature development costs can become expensive

OpenCart owns extensive storage with quite a lot of basic features to serve e-commerce businesses quickly and conveniently, but the platform still cannot meet the advanced and specialized features according to specific product characteristics, product categories, and business needs of each field.

Therefore, businesses will need to invest time and resources to develop advanced features. For example, the SEO feature is supported on the platform, but there are many difficulties when censoring content via Google, not as effective as on the WordPress platform.

The OpenCart platform is relatively new compared to other platforms on the market, has many limitations and needs to be optimized. Similar to the WooCommerce platform, this is a good platform to start an ecommerce business, but not perfect for developing a comprehensive ecommerce system that goes along with growing and scaling your business. Some of the international brands that are using OpenCart such as Sunglass Hut, Virgin Enterprise, Audio-Technica Ltd, and the brands in Vietnam that are using OpenCart are Mobifone, RitaVo, etc.

Magento

Magento is an open-source platform specially built for e-commerce. It is recognized as one of the leading e-commerce platforms today, offering various outstanding advantages such as high flexibility, a diverse ecosystem, and optimal security. Currently, Magento has two versions: Magento Open Source (free) and Magento Commerce (paid).

Pros

Diverse features for e-commerce from basic to advanced

Magento possesses many features available from basic to advanced to develop a complete e-commerce system including Category Management, Content Management, Customer Management, Marketing Management, Order Management, Store Management, System Management, Shopping Cart and Checkout, Reporting & Analytics. These features have been built with flexibility, and high availability to deliver outstanding results when integrated into the system, meeting all of your business e-commerce operations and  sustainable growth needs

Scalability

One of the biggest fears of all ecommerce businesses is having a slow, poorly functioning system, or being overwhelmed when there are too many SKUs. With Magento, businesses do not need to worry about these issues even with millions of SKUs or thousands of transactions per hour. Magento can meet all the operational requirements, and business sustainable e-commerce development needs, with the ability to handle up to 500,000 products, and thousands of transactions in an hour.

High flexibility and customizability

Owning all of the advantages of an open source ecommerce platform, Magento has outstanding flexibility and customization. Businesses can easily change and develop new and specialized features according to the characteristics of products, industries, and businesses to be able to catch up with the rapid change of the market.

On top of that, businesses easily integrate third-party systems such as payment, shipping, POS, ERP, CRM, PIM, and BI to help develop all resources, and seamless processes without affecting the level of production, and the performance of e-commerce systems.

A global community for technical support and consulting

The customer support from Magento is for the customers, who are using the enterprise version, Magento Commerce. For customers, who are using the free edition, of Magento Open Source, there will not be any customer support from the platform.

However, Magento has a strong global technical support and consulting community. Therefore, most of the problems in eCommerce that businesses are facing can be solved from the Magento ecosystem or extensions from a third party. Having a strong global technical support community is also a testament to the level of reliability, quick resolution, and constant updates that Magento open source platform brings to customers.

Cons

High development costs 

Magento open source e-commerce platform is highly appreciated with outstanding functions to develop a sustainable commerce platform, but businesses need to invest significant resources to deploy and develop the system.

Magento is an open source platform built specifically for e-commerce. This is known as one of the leading eCommerce platforms today on the market with many outstanding advantages such as high flexibility, diverse ecosystem and optimal security. Currently, Magento has 2 versions: Magento Open Source (free), and Magento Commerce (paid).

Magento has several outstanding features to develop a complete e-commerce system, and become a one-stop-shop for businesses that need development:

• Flexible Content Management: easy to adjust, and build many content management features on the e-commerce system.
• Mobile-Friendly Configuration: The interface and design of the Magento e-commerce platform are very suitable for smartphone and tablet devices.
• Advanced Search Engine Optimization: With effective SEO optimization, Magento gives online stores many opportunities to boost sales.
• Regulating Security Rights: Magento supports businesses to customize many levels of security permissions, control internal access rights, ensure system safety and protect users’ rights.

High Scalability

The biggest fear of all e-commerce businesses is having a slow, poor-performing website, or being overloaded with too many SKUs. With Magento, businesses do not need to worry about these issues, whether they have millions of SKUs or thousands of transactions per hour. Magento can meet all business needs for sustainable e-commerce operation and development. Therefore, businesses can scale up their business with Magneto.

High flexibility and customizability

The fact that the Magento platform has a high degree of flexibility is because of an open source platform. Businesses can modify and customize the templates, as well as adjust the features that the business needs to operate. In addition, businesses can completely build features from scratch to have an e-commerce system that is most suitable for businesses.

On top of that, businesses can easily integrate third-party systems such as ERP, CRM, and payment methods without affecting the level of performance of the main e-commerce system. In addition, businesses can easily separate the front-end interface from the back-end commercial activities.

Magento is an ideal place for businesses to host their software, but also a place with a lot of features. If your business currently has an experienced developer, or finances to attain a developer, and is ready to have an impressive e-commerce system, then Magento is a good choice. You have complete freedom to adjust the features until you are satisfied with your e-commerce system.

Big developer’s community around the world

However, the customer care from the Magento e-commerce platform is completely absent, in addition to that, Magento has a global developer support community. Therefore, there will be a lot of support for businesses to solve problems, and related techniques, as well as advice on building the most suitable solutions for businesses anytime, anywhere, and of course with a fee.

Cons

High development cost

A fully functional ecommerce system for a business is estimated to be at least $20,000 annually or more. If your business is just getting into e-commerce and has absolutely no technology experience, choosing Magento is a risky choice. But if businesses have the capacity and resources to run the system with this platform, then business growth will be faster with additional features such as sales automation.

Fully functional enterprise versions are estimated to be at least $20,000 annually or more. If your business is just getting into e-commerce and has absolutely no technology experience, choosing Magento is a risky choice. But if businesses have the capacity and resources to run the system with this platform, then business growth will be faster with additional features such as sales automation.

Complexity of specialized functions

Many businesses currently still face difficulties when transforming to e-commerce because of the specific characteristics of different industries and fields. These specific functions require an appropriate technology solution to ensure that the ecommerce system can operate efficiently and sustainably after the transformation. To build a specific feature with high complexity for an e-commerce system, businesses will need to spend more resources and time than the usual plan that businesses have set out to get a solution that fits the specific requirements of your e-commerce business.

Vietnamese firms that are using Magento

Magento is the best-fit solution for small and medium B2C businesses that have the need as well as the time, manpower and skills to build an e-commerce system. Famous brands in Vietnam are using the Magento ecommerce platform: Sendo, Vietnamworks, SJC, etc.

So which ecommerce platform is best suited for your business?

Different e-commerce platforms offer different features and values. No matter what route your business follows when building your e-commerce system, always think carefully about the following factors:

• The platform you choose must ensure your website is constantly updated and managed
• Choose a good web hosting
• Intuitive and seamless payment processors and shopping cart
• Good for customer service and user experience
• Ensure security for your site and customers’ data

BigCommerce

With BigCommerce, businesses can choose the price that suits their business needs. In addition, the BigCommerce eCommerce platform is designed for everyone to use, from beginners to professional developers. However, if the business does not have a lot of capacity, as well as finance, then using BigCommerce to develop an e-commerce system is not suitable.

WooCommerce

With the WooCommerce ecommerce platform, businesses have full control over the ecommerce system. In addition, businesses can freely compare, and adjust any functions in the ecommerce system. However, expanding your business on the WooCommerce platform would be an inappropriate choice, as the platform can be overloaded with functions on the ecommerce system. However, businesses can start an ecommerce system with WooCommerce with less investment than competitors like BigCommerce.

Magento

Magento is a comprehensive ecommerce platform capable of supporting businesses to expand and grow their business in all aspects. However, all the disadvantages of Magento can be narrowed down to a single problem: the technical challenges, which require businesses to have an in-depth programming team. Meanwhile, businesses can solve this by having a team with experience building e-commerce systems.

Businesses can contact SECOMM to receive detailed advice for the journey to develop a comprehensive and sustainable e-commerce system for businesses and consult Magento solutions specifically for SMEs in Vietnam!

During the period of digital transformation and the strong impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic on the international markets as well as in Vietnam, the requirement to kick start and expand the eCommerce channel of the wine industry has accelerated faster than ever.

According to Nielsen, contrary to the expectation of a downward trend during the COVID-19 epidemic, the amount of alcohol sold through online stores during the Covid-19 epidemic increased by 27.6%. Particularly in Vietnam, many reports show that wine import volume in the past 3 years has always increased by 10% above average per year and tends to increase rapidly in the coming time, one of the reasons for the increase in wine imports is the changing trend from familiar alcoholic drinks to wine (Thanh Nien News).

However, to seize opportunities and deploy an effective eCommerce system for the wine industry businesses have to choose the most appropriate platform meticulously. Besides the platform that must match with the business model and the business plan, flexibility, and high scalability are the top two most important factors. Out of many highly-rated eCommerce platforms, the open-source Magento platform is well-chosen by many Wine eCommerce giants. 

So how did Magento solve the eCommerce problems for the wine industry?

Special eCommerce requirements for the wine industry?

A modern user interface

The eCommerce system for the Wine business not only needs to have a neat interface, and match with UX/UI standards but must have a high aesthetics level, and bring out the most unique characteristics of the industry to convey the brand and the production values ​​to the specific customer segment of the industry – customers with “style”.

In addition to investing in high-quality images, arranging the layout scientifically and conveniently, such as the display of new arrivals, best-selling products, and most viewed products right on the homepage of the online store, the interface should reflect the distinctive characteristics of the industry and the unique highlight from the business to the customers.

A functional system with high complexity

One of the biggest challenges when implementing eCommerce in the wine industry is the system’s high complexity.

Most eCommerce businesses in the wine industry own a complex category system with a diverse number of products and a variety of product attributes. In addition, to ensure that the eCommerce system is running smoothly and stably with the number of visitors entering the system increasing gradually over time, and spikes during many promotional campaigns, the eCommerce system also needs to be well-designed and built carefully.

Furthermore, many wine business owners often have many sales channels and use many different management software such as POS, CRM, and ERP… this requires eCommerce platforms to be able to integrate, seamlessly and efficiently with third-party software without affecting individual system performance.

This integration also helps businesses overcome the limitations of manual operation, and increase automation for back-office, and sales management processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for business operations, and development.

To ensure the development and operation of a complex eCommerce system that meets the above characteristics required the developers of the eCommerce system for the wine industry must be experienced and highly skilled. 

A seamless user experience

• A complete buyer’s journey experience

One of the most important factors for eCommerce is the customer experience. Especially for the wine industry, which relies on personal interactions to build relationships with customers. However, the digital transformation that has been taking place in the wine industry since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic means that the in-store shopping experiences are limited, in exchange for buying wine online through an eCommerce website.

Therefore, businesses need to ensure that they have a product information management system ready, products in stock, pricing displays, well-known brands, various payment options, and delivery services to give customers a complete shopping experience.

• Personalized user experience

Not only have a system that delivers a complete experience on the buyer’s journey, but businesses also need to prepare to personalize the customer experience. Beginning the personalization from the content, the product displacement, to navigating the buyer’s journey will be the key to helping businesses score points in the consumers’ eyes, effectively boosting sales and building Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) for the brand.

This requires businesses to know how to leverage unique data on consumers that has already been calculated and developed by using cutting-edge digital technology to build specific customer profiles, create buying habits that match the consumer’s interest, also provide customized content that matches each consumer’s needs, and bring a unique shopping experience to each customer when buying products on the system.

• Multi-channel customer experience

Nowadays, besides the traditional way of buying goods offline, or through brick-and-mortar stores, shopping through mobile applications as well as through websites has become a common way. Having a business presence on multiple channels – in other words, integrated Omni-channels makes it easy for users to make purchases.

To deliver a seamless multi-channel experience, it is essential to ensure that each channel is optimized for operation, nondisruptively connecting through technological infrastructure improvements. Simultaneously, businesses also need to ensure that they have enough customer information and take full advantage of these data ​​to build distinct competitiveness, ensuring a seamless experience on the system.

In addition, wine businesses must constantly develop technology to accompany generations of customers that have changed over time from the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Millenials- Gen Y (1980-1996), and lastly Gen Z (1997-2002). The customer segments are getting more complex by the day, requiring businesses must have a solid understanding and stay up-to-date with technology to optimize the system to bring the best shopping experience that is most appropriate for each generation. 

Related article: Wine eCommerce shines brilliantly in the digital era

Magento – Solutions for wine eCommerce

Magento is known as one of the leading eCommerce platforms for the wine industry with many outstanding advantages such as an open-source platform with high flexibility, a diverse ecosystem, optimal security, and owning all built-in features from basic to advanced for the eCommerce system.

Owning all built-in features from basic to advanced for an eCommerce system

Basic features

The Magento platform owns an extensive ecosystem that contains many online features that support business in the wine industry such as managing customer information, handling wine allocation, and controlling inventory, as well as handling orders, etc.

• Catalog Management: Develop and control all data that possess all product features, categories, attributes, pricing system, inventory, and media (images and videos) to maintain operation and optimize business performance. Especially for the wine business that needs high-quality images representing different wine brands on the system, as well as different price systems on different websites.
• Content Management: Develop and enhance all content elements for CMS pages, media storage, theme customization, and web design, which helps businesses approach the consumer with nice personalized user and store interfaces. 
• Sales Management: Set up and operate sales, order, payment, and shipping processes. It is simultaneously diversifying information to deliver the best customer experiences.
• Marketing Management: SEO optimization, marketing promotions implementation (promotion, upselling, cross-selling,…) with supporting tools to help businesses have more presence on digital platforms and boost sales.
• Customer Management: Fully manage customer data to improve marketing performance, and buying experiences,  and enhance customer experience. Businesses can fully develop a personalized customer experience.
• Inventory Management: Easily fulfil the supply chain with inventory management tools, and distribute transportation to the proper warehouses that analyze subsequent efficient warehouses. This allows businesses to see exactly how many goods they have in stock.
• Report: Effectively exploit data through comprehensive and detailed reports to improve and enhance business performance, including Marketing Reports, Purchasing/Procurement Reports, Customer Reports, Product Reports, Review Reports, and Operating Performance. 
• Analytic: Support monitoring and measuring eCommerce performance through integration tools, such as Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixels và  Google Tag Manager (GTM). These analytics tools help to track and report web traffic, audiences, purchasing process, and buying behaviour, simultaneously help to measure ads performance and track website activities, and lastly help quickly update website metrics and related tags to maximize personalization and reach the right goals for the subsequent marketing campaigns. 

These basic features have been built to help businesses operate an online commerce system without spending too much time designing, and developing special features. So businesses can kick start their eCommerce journey without spending too much time and money right from the start.

Advance features

The Magento platform is known for its outstanding features and extensions that are developed to meet the rapidly evolving eCommerce market as well as the specialized requirements of each business. Thousands of advanced functions in themes, add-ons, products, Marketing, optimal payment solutions, and shipping,… built with flexibility and high usability have shown remarkable results when integrating into the system, meeting all operational needs, and long-term eCommerce development needs.

Scalability

The Magento open-source eCommerce platform can accompany businesses with all business models from B2B, B2C, D2C to B2B2C, or from newly operated businesses to businesses that expanding their operating systems. Magento can support businesses to operate and develop, expand into many websites, many countries, multi-currency, and all can be managed on the same system.

Also, Magento has a stable operating system with the ability to handle up to 500,000 SKUs, and thousands of transactions in an hour, so the platform can support businesses operating a stable website that has an increasing amount of traffic over time or a sudden spike during the promotional period.

Ability to integrate 

One of the outstanding features of the Magento open-source platform is the ability to easily integrate with third-party services such as payment, shipping & handling, analytics, and business management software to help operate the eCommerce system. seamlessly and efficiently. 

Integration with a variety of payment and delivery methods

Many eCommerce businesses in general, as well as the wine industry in particular, need secure, flexible, and diverse payment software from domestic cards to international cards to payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, OnePay, ), e-wallet (Momo, ZaloPay…).

Ex: Trentham Estate, the business has integrated with the Stripe payment gateway to process recurring orders without the need for customers to interact each time with a new order. This has simplified the buying journey as well as the customer experience, helping customers quickly make purchase decisions. The application supports customers effectively on many interfaces and devices, from websites, mobile apps, credit cards, e-wallets, etc.

About shipping and handling, businesses can easily integrate last-mile delivery services and other shipping applications in the markets to help optimize the delivery processes. In addition, businesses can completely customize the delivery modes that are suitable for businesses and customers to get the best shopping experiences.

In addition, wine businesses can develop their delivery options that allow the system to automatically select the corresponding store according to the address provided by the customer, allow orders to be allocated to the nearest warehouse, resulting in higher delivery efficiency, helping customers receive products faster and more conveniently as with businesses The Warehouse has applied for their delivery in everyday business. 

Ex: iShopChangi Wine (Singapore) has designed and developed a pick-up feature at the arrival or departure terminal for passengers that are departing, arriving, or transiting at Changi Airpor with their flight information. In addition, customers can also choose “Home Delivery” as long as it’s within Singapore. The system allows all groups of passengers to customize and choose the most convenient pick-up times to get the best out of the shopping experience. 

• Integration with business management systems such as  ERP, CRM

In addition to the ability to integrate diverse payment and delivery methods, many wine businesses are turning to the Magento platform because of the easy integration between this platform and management software such as ERP, and CRM to get a seamless connection of all supply channels from offline to online.

Through the integration of the Magento platform, businesses can overcome the limitations of manual operation and increase the automation of back-office and sales management processes, ensuring high accuracy, and operational efficiency for long-term development.

• Integration with analytics and reporting software

Besides the built-in analytical tools available on the platform, wine businesses can fully integrate analytics and reporting software such as Business Intelligence (Power BI, Tableau, Looker,…) helping businesses easily analyze and utilise consolidated data, improving business strategy, optimizing the personalized shopping experience while using the system, and growing business, as well as getting the overall view of the business situation more accurately than using manual methods.

Successful wine business with the Magento open-source platform

iShopChangi Wine – Singapore

iShopChangi Wine website is an eCommerce website specializing in providing many famous wines worldwide with special offers for travellers entering or passing through Changi Airport, especially for the members of Changi Airport Group – CAG (Changi Rewards members) with many attractive promotions.

SECOMM accompanied by iShopChangi Wines begins the improvement starting with the interface, page layout, the product classification. Next, the business optimizes the entire operating system as well as the infrastructure on the existing website to ensure the website operates seamlessly, and stably.

Besides providing operational solutions, the business also focuses on keeping the system unique in terms of both aesthetics in design and the elements of brand development for both CAG and DFS. About functions, the business has developed a complex price calculation, and display system based on many tax principles for alcohol-containing products, as well as classifying customer groups to quickly process orders, as well as optimize the delivery feature at Singapore’s airport and bring the best buying experience.

iShopChangi Wines’ eCommerce system has effectively met the shopping needs of international tourists. The initial complex elements have been simplified into a standard UX/UI interface, and ensure a professional, outstanding overall look of a wine website.

Trentham Estate – Australia

Trentham Estate has been a long-standing Australian brand specializing in wine production and trading since 1988. Throughout the operation, the business has been honoured with hundreds of medals, titles, and significant awards in the wine industry. They were also appreciated for their flexible and creative winemaking method, producing various distinct flavour products.

Since the beginning, Trentham Estate Winery built and maintained a WordPress website to develop and manage all the branding activities. Until 2017, the company decided to switch to the open-source platform, Magento, to build a comprehensive website to be able to provide all wine products with a faster operation and management process.

Trentham Estate Winery and SECOMM built a complete website with the Magento platform to optimize the interface, bringing the unique features of the wine industry to businesses. Next is integrating the payment process with Stripe, and developing delivery on the eCommerce system according to the delivery frequency that suits the customer’s preferences. Finally, building the “Wine Club” program with many incentives for loyal customers, providing the best experiences, and increasing a source of revenue.

The Warehouse – Vietnam

The Warehouse stands out from the Vietnamese market as a wine and spirits distributor, which is also one of the An Nam Group’s retail brands (Annam Gourmet Market, The Warehouse, Yves Rocher, Flormar).  Since 2001, the brand has spent its efforts to partner with more than 80 well-known wineries worldwide. Those corporations have supported The Warehouse to bring the Vietnam Market high-quality products with peculiarities from parts of the world. 

Starting eCommerce with the Magento platform, The Warehouse is extremely focused on fine-tuning the interface, including the Vietnamese and English content, high-quality images, and harmonious website layout for all products on each page, helping businesses show the unique brand’s characteristics as well as the wine industry.

In addition, the enterprise also optimizes user experience and maximizes revenue by developing a product display system with complex categories and attributes, integrating the OnePay payment gateway, also integrating, and synchronizing data from business management software POS, and ERP (Microsoft Dynamics AX) with the Magento platform to limit manual operation, increase automation, and operate all resources and processes flawlessly. 

Currently, the business is expanding its business with the Magento platform to meet all the needs of customers across Vietnam.

Evaluating the suitability of the Magento open source commerce platform with the Wine eCommerce business.

eCommerce is an inevitable trend as well as a “weapon” for wine businesses to break the market limits. This is a good opportunity for wine businesses to quickly grasp, develop, and expand their business models. To start their eCommerce journey, wine businesses can choose to build their system with Magento, an open-source eCommerce platform.

Magento, an open-source eCommerce platform, is a suitable platform for the wine industry with all business models such as B2B, B2C, and B2B2C. With all of the advantages of having a lot of features from basic to advanced, diverse ecosystems, scalability, and the flexibility of the Magento eCommerce platform, wine businesses can completely design a website that meets all requirements and delivers the ultimate online shopping experience.

In addition, businesses can easily change and develop specialized features according to product characteristics to keep up with the rapid changes in the market and develop long-term goals. That is also one of the main reasons that many wine businesses have chosen the Magento platform to go hand in hand, such as The Warehouse, iShopChangi Wines, and The Trentham Estate Winery.

SECOMM has significant experience developing complicated Wine eCommerce websites in different countries, and we know the challenges that businesses face when selecting and implementing an eCommerce platform. 

Contact SECOMM for a free consultation on eCommerce website development!

Read more: 5 eCommerce platforms for the wine industry businesses

The electronic commerce market in the liquor industry is currently experiencing robust development and has become a dominant trend in many different countries. In 2021 alone, the number of alcohol consumers increased by 10–20%, and those following the trend saw a growth of 40–50%, indicating significant progress in eCommerce for the alcohol industry in recent times (according to Wine Intelligent).

Not only limited to user growth, the global eCommerce market for wine is expected to grow by 7.7% annually (according to Statista) and reach a value of 1.68 trillion by 2025 (according to Cision). This presents both an opportunity and a challenge for liquor businesses to grasp and develop a business model suitable for the changing market in the digital era.

To embark on an online liquor business, the selection of an eCommerce platform needs careful consideration and precise decision-making. Choosing the right platform aligned with the budget and objectives helps businesses save time in construction, utilise human resources efficiently, and save costs in building and developing the system. Simultaneously, it assists businesses in reaching a large customer base, boosting sales, and seizing sustainable development opportunities in the future.

Currently, there are primarily two types of eCommerce platforms on the market: open-source and service-based. Each type of platform has certain advantages and disadvantages, and businesses need to carefully weigh criteria that align with their business model to choose a suitable platform.

Criteria for Choosing an eCommerce Platform in the Liquor Industry

Suitable Interface for the eCommerce System in the Liquor Industry

Wine products belong to the premium segment in modern life. Therefore, customers always prioritize high-quality visuals, and eye-catching, user-friendly interfaces in the eCommerce system that are easy to use and navigate.

Businesses in the liquor industry need to focus on conveying the product’s value message not only through a well-designed and user-friendly interface but also one that has high aesthetic appeal, with distinctive features to communicate the brand and product values to the specific target customers of the industry. This approach ensures a comprehensive user experience when using the eCommerce system.

Diverse eCommerce Feature System, from Basic to Advanced to Specialized

eCommerce platforms should have a diverse range of features, from basic to advanced, and even specialized features tailored for the liquor industry. This facilitates the efficient and sustainable development of the eCommerce system for businesses. Basic features include management, storefronts, sales, information management, statistics, revenue control, customer lists, invoices, shopping carts, and checkout, as well as reporting and analysis.

Advanced features related to themes, products, marketing, optimized payment solutions, discounts, and shipping cater to the operational and developmental needs of sustainable eCommerce for businesses. Specialized features for the liquor industry may include product allocation, inventory control, membership management (Wine club memberships management), implementing customer loyalty programmes, and product-specific discounts based on business needs.

Read more: SaaS eCommerce platforms vs Open-Source eCommerce platforms

High Integration Capability

For a seamless online business system in the liquor industry, businesses often integrate eCommerce platforms with other software and technology platforms they currently use, such as payment systems, shipping, ERP, POS, CRM, marketing management, etc.

This requires the eCommerce platform to have flexible, seamless, and effective integration capabilities with this software without compromising the execution of each system. This integration not only helps businesses overcome manual operational limitations but also increases automation for both back-office management and sales processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for the business’s development.

Payment and Delivery Software

In addition to supporting Cash On Delivery (COD), platforms need to integrate various payment software, including local and international card options, payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, One Pay, etc.), and digital wallets (Momo, ZaloPay, etc.). The chosen eCommerce platform should have the ability to seamlessly integrate this payment software with high security, safety, and efficiency.

For delivery and logistics, businesses can integrate service providers and popular transportation tracking applications, optimizing and streamlining delivery processes. Businesses can customize and develop delivery modes suitable for customers, ensuring a comfortable and convenient buying and receiving experience for users. Integrating payment and delivery software helps shorten the purchasing journey, optimize the user experience, and prompt customers to make decisions quickly.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Businesses can fully integrate third-party enterprise management software such as ERP, CRM, POS, etc., with the eCommerce system to support efficient and seamless multi-channel eCommerce operations. This synchronizes data on products, categories, orders, and user information across systems, simplifying and automating the back-office management and sales processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for sustainable development.

Marketing Management Software

In addition to the marketing tools available on the eCommerce platform, businesses can integrate additional marketing tools such as email marketing software (MailChimp, Drip, etc.), marketing analysis software (Google Analytics, Google Adwords Keywords, etc.), and social media management software (Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.). Marketing management software helps businesses deploy marketing campaigns, attract customers, and increase conversion rates, maximizing both eCommerce and overall business revenue.

Maximum Scalability

Choosing an eCommerce platform in the liquor industry with high scalability is crucial for businesses to grow sustainably. The platform should seamlessly accompany the business through various business models, from entering eCommerce for the first time to expanding the business system. It should support diverse business models such as B2B, B2C, D2C, and B2B2C.

Furthermore, the platform should assist businesses in operating and expanding by supporting the management of multiple websites, catering to multiple countries, and handling various currencies, all within a unified system. Beyond that, platforms with high scalability not only support expansion but also ensure stable system operation even when the website experiences gradual increases in traffic over time or experiences sudden spikes in traffic during promotional campaigns.

Top 5 Specialized eCommerce Platforms in the Wine Industry

VineSpring

VineSpring is an eCommerce platform created by experts with in-depth knowledge of the wine industry’s operations. As a result, businesses will have an online eCommerce system with specialized features for the wine industry.

Evaluation based on criteria

Interface Criteria

• Industry-specific Interface Design:

VineSpring offers a rich interface library, collaborating with various unique website designers specifically for the online wine industry. This allows businesses to easily build their brand without needing extensive technological knowledge.

• Multimedia Experience:

Understanding the present needs of businesses, VineSpring has developed and optimized its platform to operate flexibly on various media, from desktops and tablets to personal mobile devices. This ensures businesses have a multimedia online presence and provides the best shopping experience.

• Prominent CMS System:

With a CMS system on the VineSpring platform, businesses can fine-tune content and essential product information, brand details, and success stories tailored to their business development needs. This enables businesses to have a highly interactive website and a friendlier user experience.

Integration Capability Criteria

• Shipping Software Integration:

The platform also supports businesses in terms of product shipping. VineSpring can integrate additional shipping software (ShipCompliant and ShipStation), assisting businesses in controlling information and making order tracking easy for customers on the website.

• Management Software Integration:

VineSpring directly integrates with Square POS software through an available technical team. The VineSpring POS system has a “tap, chip, and swipe” feature, enabling businesses to process orders quickly and conveniently. Additionally, VineSpring can integrate CRM software (Salesforce) to provide efficient solutions for management, sales, and customer care.

• Marketing Management Software Integration:

VineSpring supports businesses in marketing through the integration of email marketing software (Mailchimp) for list management and the creation of email marketing campaigns, increasing automation in operations.

eCommerce Feature System Criteria

• Basic and Advanced Features:

Vinspring has a system of basic and some advanced features sufficient for businesses to operate at a basic level. Especially, Vinespring has optimized inventory management features to save time, allowing businesses to access production history details, including information on bottling times, prices, and shipping units.

• Specialized Features:

Vinespring is an ideal solution for developing a business’s recurring revenue model in the eCommerce wine industry. The platform provides businesses with specialized features, such as wine allocation management and wine club member management.

In addition to the mentioned advantages, Vinespring also has a dedicated customer care team. As a Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce platform, VineSpring places a strong emphasis on customer service through 24/7 online chat with experts and telephone support anywhere, anytime. Therefore, businesses will receive the best and fastest support to resolve technical issues, as well as applications, features, and the most convenient and suitable solutions.

Cost

VineSpring is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, so businesses need to pay a fixed monthly fee ranging from $99 to $399, depending on the service package, and may be higher based on business needs:

• VineSpring Starter – $99/month: Provides businesses with a store system that includes hosting, payment software from VineSpring, and free direct support.
• VineSpring Standard – $199/month: Businesses have control over inventory, allocation management, custom store interface plugins, and integration with the ShipCompliant shipping feature.
• VineSpring Professional – $399/month: Businesses receive all essential features from the VineSpring Standard package, along with integration with Square POS software and the MailChimp marketing tool.
• VineSpring Enterprise: Ideal for large-scale wine businesses with high sales volume. The price for this package varies depending on the scale of the business.

User Target

The VineSpring platform (SaaS) is suitable for wine businesses with limited experience in building eCommerce systems. However, the usage fees for this platform are relatively high for small and medium-sized businesses.

WineDirect

WineDirect is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform designed for wine businesses with no experience in eCommerce platforms, helping manage every aspect of online sales and simplifying the business process.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

The WineDirect platform provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface tailored for businesses. Additionally, WineDirect offers a diverse range of free interface templates and features, facilitating easy development of the eCommerce system with just basic website development knowledge and skills.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

• Basic Features:

WineDirect provides fundamental features such as website analytics, sales tools, and options for business event registrations to boost customer engagement. This allows businesses to save time and unnecessary costs associated with other software.

• Advanced Features:

Businesses can possess essential information for creating customized offers and discounts tailored to each customer category, based on statistics gathered through integrated tools. Consequently, businesses can develop personalized shopping experiences and drive higher sales volumes, achieving outstanding results and meeting development needs.

• Special Features:

The platform has leveraged and optimized the WineDirect application, specially designed for mobile devices and is highly flexible for the wine industry. Through the application, businesses can manage products, eCommerce systems, advertising campaigns on the website, and customer information.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Integration:

WineDirect provides integrated payment solutions on the platform, enabling businesses to have a seamless experience across two payment software, such as WineDirect Payments for businesses in the US and Canada, and eWay Payments for businesses in Australia.

With payment software, businesses are supported in processing orders through the website or in-store. Regarding shipping, the WineDirect platform can integrate with various shipping services (UPS, FedEx, Gliding Eagle, etc.), assisting businesses with detailed shipping information for each order and enhancing automation in the shipping process.

• Management Software Integration:

The WineDirect platform can integrate with ERP software, as well as the POS of the business (WineDirect POS, Napa Valley, Oztera, etc.), aiming to synchronize data between the POS system and the eCommerce system, including orders, inventory, wine club members, customer information, helping businesses increase automation in the operational process and manage information effectively.

• Marketing Tool Integration:

WineDirect has integrated available marketing tools on the platform to help businesses save time in system development. This includes providing businesses with access to real-time sales reports, allowing them to send emails based on customer groups depending on marketing campaigns.

Cost

The WineDirect platform is a SaaS (Software as a Service) eCommerce platform with three main pricing plans as follows:

• DTC Starter – $79 + 2% of monthly sales: Businesses integrate marketing tools, payment software, and Ship Compliant shipping, with free hosting included.
• DTC Pro starting from $199 + 1% of monthly sales: Businesses receive all the essential features from the DTC Starter package, as well as customer loyalty programs, reports, and automatic credit card updates.
• DTC Advanced: Businesses get all the features from the DTC Pro package, along with custom benefits to fit the scale and needs of the business. The usage cost for this service package varies based on the business’s requirements and scale.

User Target

Similar to VineSpring, the WineDirect platform (SaaS) is suitable for businesses of various models and sizes that lack extensive experience in building eCommerce systems and technology. However, one platform limitation is its high usage cost, which increases with the business’s monthly sales volume. 

Beyond the high usage cost, operational tools on the platform may be unstable, occasionally displaying errors on the system, such as payment statuses showing as ‘pending processing’ on the business side but appearing as ‘paid’ on the customer side. Despite this, WineDirect has a dedicated customer support team that efficiently addresses business issues, making it a preferred choice for many businesses.

Shopify

Shopify is a well-known giant in the field of building eCommerce systems as a Software as a Service (SaaS). The Shopify platform is favoured in the market for its user-friendly nature, quick system-building time, and low initial costs, making it suitable for a wide range of businesses.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

In terms of interface, Shopify provides many beautiful themes that are well-compatible across various devices. Businesses in the wine industry can choose from several specialized templates designed and offered specifically for online wine businesses by the Shopify platform. Additionally, businesses have the freedom to customize the interface by accessing HTML and CSS code to enhance the brand’s uniqueness. Therefore, businesses can deliver a seamless experience across different devices without affecting the user’s shopping process.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

Basic and Advanced Features:

In addition to basic features related to orders, products, categories, and product management, the Shopify eCommerce platform allows businesses in the wine industry to access profiles and purchase histories to gather customer information. This enables businesses to personalize the shopping experience, from personalized content and product displays to the entire eCommerce journey.

This key aspect helps businesses make a positive impression on consumers and fosters a stronger relationship between both parties. Furthermore, with the mobile application developed by Shopify, businesses can control every aspect of the online store anytime, anywhere, including effective sales management, order fulfilment, and inventory management.

Integration Criteria

• Integration of Payment and Shipping Software:

In addition to supporting direct payment features from the platform itself (Shopify Payment), Shopify also assists businesses in integrating other payment software such as Paypal, Stripe, SagePay, AliPay Global, etc. Regarding shipping software, Shopify collaborates directly with various major shipping service providers like USPS, UPS, and DHL to streamline the process and ensure more convenient shipping for businesses.

• Integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software:

Shopify’s Global ERP Program provides businesses with a system that connects multiple eCommerce platforms with critical business databases such as finance and inventory to optimize operations and business processes. This program includes partnerships with leading global ERP providers such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central, Oracle NetSuite, Infor, Acumatica, and Brightpearl.

• Automatic Integration of Marketing Tools:

Shopify supports businesses in marketing through integrated software within the system. Examples include email software (MailChimp), sales channels (Facebook, Instagram), advertising (Google Ads), etc. Through these integrated marketing tools, businesses have the opportunity to increase sales, automate email marketing, and develop marketing campaigns tailored to specific customer groups.

Cost

Shopify has developed various service plans suitable for businesses to choose from based on their capabilities and scale:

• Basic Shopify – $29/month: Suitable for new businesses with modest sales volume.
• Shopify – $79/month: Suitable for growing online businesses experiencing increased sales.
• Advanced Shopify – $299/month: Suitable for businesses with the need to expand scale and require advanced reporting and analytics tools.

In addition, Shopify has introduced other service plans to cater to diverse business needs:

• Shopify Lite – $9/month: Suitable for businesses wanting to add a buy button and payment services to an existing website or blog.
• Shopify Plus – $2000/month: Provides an advanced eCommerce solution for large enterprises handling a substantial volume of orders.

User Target

Originally an industry giant in the Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce sector with characteristics of rapid system development time, as well as a startup cost suitable for many businesses and easy usability, this platform is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises with limited experience in information technology.

However, in addition to the monthly fees for using additional utilities, Shopify also has limitations in terms of advanced features, unique features, and customization. Businesses must accept that certain features may not be available on the current website and may need to switch platforms when aiming to build a specialized system that aligns with their specific needs and ensures sustainable development in the future.

Read more: 

• What is Shopify Plus? The pros and cons of Shopify Plus
• Shopify vs Shopify Plus 2023: Which is a better choice? 

WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) known as a plugin for WordPress, introduced in 2011. It is completely free and allows businesses to turn their WordPress website into an online store. Therefore, in addition to being suitable for customizing the interface, WooCommerce is also an ideal platform for businesses to have a website with a flexible blog section, high interactivity, and a more user-friendly experience.

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

• The rich and customizable form library:

WooCommerce possesses and provides businesses with a rich library of forms designed for the wine industry, carefully crafted and user-friendly. Therefore, businesses can conveniently design and build an eCommerce system right from the beginning without needing in-depth technical knowledge

• User-friendly interface with Product Table:

With the WooCommerce platform, businesses can integrate tools from management systems to features specific to the wine industry. For instance, the platform can integrate with Product Table, a tool that allows wine businesses to have an interface displaying product attributes and numerous high-quality product images, as well as filtering features.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

WooCommerce allows and supports basic features such as inventory management, order processing, inventory optimization, SEO tools, discounts, price reductions, sales statistics reports, and easy integration with payment and shipping providers. In terms of advanced features, the WooCommerce platform supports businesses in the wine industry with opportunities for wholesale orders and discounts, boosting sales through the eCommerce system. However, the platform has some limitations in terms of specialized features for the wine industry, as making certain edits can potentially cause instability in the system.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Software:

For payments, businesses can use plugins to integrate payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Square into the system, ensuring high security and safety.

Regarding shipping, businesses can integrate with various shipping providers that collaborate with WooCommerce, such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS, enabling efficient processing and optimization of the shipping process to provide the best shopping experience for consumers.

• Business Management Software:

The WooCommerce platform allows and supports businesses with integrable business management software, typical examples being Odoo, Square POS, and WP ERP. This enables businesses to save time, and costs, improve business efficiency, and automate management processes.

• Marketing Management Software:

Businesses can integrate marketing management software to support their operations, such as email marketing (MailChimp), advertising (Google Listings, Google Ads, Facebook), and analytics software (Google Analytics). This helps businesses increase traffic, promote repeat shopping, and optimize personalization for consumers.

Cost

The WooCommerce platform is an open-source platform, and thus, the platform itself is entirely free to use. However, businesses may incur development costs when utilizing the platform, such as domain registration fees ($15), hosting fees ($120/year), and system development costs (ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the complexity of the system).

User Target

WooCommerce is a suitable platform for wine businesses already familiar with WordPress and looking to expand their eCommerce systems, offering numerous basic features built with high availability from developers in the strong global community. However, WooCommerce is not perfect for businesses with a large number of products, as the system tends to be unstable with more than 2,000 SKUs. 

The platform also has limitations in terms of customization and fine-tuning specific features because intervening adjustments can easily lead to system instability, and there is a high likelihood that the built-in features are not compatible with this platform. Additionally, to customize the system based on the available feature set, businesses may encounter significant difficulties and time-consuming efforts.

Magento – The best all-around platform for the wine industry

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform known as one of the leading eCommerce platforms today, with many outstanding advantages such as high flexibility, a diverse ecosystem, and optimal security. Currently, Magento has two versions: Magento Open Source (free) and Magento Commerce (paid).

Evaluation based on criteria

Criteria for Interface

With the Magento open-source eCommerce platform, businesses may not have access to an extensive theme library as other eCommerce platforms do. However, businesses can fully customize the interface for a specialized eCommerce system, providing a comfortable user experience. To achieve this, businesses need an experienced technical team and careful investment.

Criteria for eCommerce System Features

The Magento eCommerce platform offers a highly diverse and advanced feature system, from basic to advanced, making it easy for wine industry businesses to quickly build and develop their systems in the short term and sustainably in the long term.

• Basic features:

A variety of features ranging from Category Management, Content Management, Customer Management, Marketing Management, Order Management, Store Management, System Management, Cart and Checkout, to Reporting & Analytics.

• Advanced features:

Magento is known for its superiorly developed advanced features and extensions to meet the rapid development of the eCommerce market and the specialized requirements of each business. Thousands of advanced functions related to themes, products, marketing, optimal payment solutions, shipping, etc., have been built with flexibility and high availability, delivering outstanding results when integrated into the system, and meeting every operational and sustainable eCommerce development need of businesses.

• Specialized features:

Businesses can completely modify system functions, develop new specialized features to meet business needs, and quickly adapt to market changes. In addition, businesses can comfortably expand the scale of their business with the open-source Magento platform.

Integration Criteria

• Payment and Shipping Software:

Regarding payments, wine industry businesses using the Magento eCommerce platform can integrate the most common payment methods such as card payments (ATM, Visa, Master…), e-wallets (Momo, Zalo Pay…), and payment gateways (OnePay, VNPay, PayPal, etc.), helping diversify the shopping payment experience.

For shipping, businesses can easily integrate with various shipping providers and popular shipment tracking applications on the market to optimize shipping and delivery processes. Additionally, wine industry businesses can develop shipping and delivery features tailored to their needs and customers to provide a convenient and fast delivery experience.

• Business Management Software:

Magento is praised for its highly effective operation with most POS (Square…), CRM (Salesforce…), and ERP (SAP, Oracle, Odoo) systems. Through efficient integration of these software solutions, businesses can overcome manual operation limitations and increase automation for both back-office management and sales, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for sustainable development.

• Marketing Management Software:

For marketing management software, businesses can integrate various management software solutions, including email marketing (Mailchimp…), and advertising (Facebook, Google…), to support planning marketing programs, strategy setting, as well as handling and controlling data, seamless eCommerce business processes, and optimizing online business.

Additionally, Magento provides Magento BI tools or allows businesses to integrate with other Business Intelligence (BI) tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Looker, etc., to optimize business efficiency, easily consolidate and leverage data from the Magento system and other software for quick, efficient analysis and reporting, and to improve business strategy and growth optimization for the enterprise.

Criteria for scalability

Inheriting the high scalability of the open-source platform, Magento can accompany businesses with every sustainable development business model, from newly established enterprises to expanded business systems, covering various business models such as B2B, B2C, D2C, and B2B2C.

Magento can support businesses to operate and expand into multiple websites, countries, and multiple currencies, and manage all within one system. Not only that, Magento also supports stable system operation even when the website experiences gradual or sudden increases in traffic over time or during peak periods in promotional campaigns, with the ability to handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions per hour.

Cost

Magento is an ideal platform for any business venturing into the wine industry and implementing eCommerce. However, the cost issue is a significant obstacle, preventing most small and medium-sized wine businesses from choosing the Magento platform to build an eCommerce system.

According to estimates, a fully functional system developed on the Magento eCommerce platform typically incurs deployment and development costs ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. In addition to the complex and advanced feature set, a crucial factor contributing to the higher deployment costs of Magento compared to other platforms is the requirement for an experienced and specialized team.

User Target

Magento is often the platform of choice for large businesses in the wine industry, whether B2B, B2C, or D2C, that already have an existing customer base and a long-term need for developing an eCommerce system. With this platform, businesses can continually develop components within the eCommerce system to ensure optimal operational efficiency and sustainable growth.

The high development costs, as well as the development timeline, which can range from 2-3 months to sometimes up to a year, are barriers that make it challenging for small and medium-sized businesses to comfortably choose Magento.

Choosing an eCommerce Platform for the Wine Industry

Choosing the right eCommerce platform is crucial in building an eCommerce system for businesses in the wine industry. This decision not only minimizes investment costs and shortens the time to build an eCommerce system but also helps businesses gain a competitive advantage in the industry and achieve sustainable growth.

On the other hand, an inappropriate platform choice can lead to significant time and cost investments for migration and platform conversion. Therefore, businesses need to consider their goals, and issues in the current model to choose the most suitable platform.

For small and medium-sized businesses, newcomers to the eCommerce market, or large businesses without the need to build a specialized eCommerce system, they can choose Software as a Service (SaaS) eCommerce platforms such as VineSpring, Winedirect, Shopify, or the open-source platform WooCommerce.

If businesses focus on industry-specific features such as developing a subscription revenue model and managing wine clubs, VineSpring and Wine Direct are suitable choices. WooCommerce is convenient for businesses that emphasize adjusting the interface. Shopify is suitable for businesses that want to quickly develop an eCommerce website with low initial costs.

For large businesses or those wanting to build a specialized eCommerce system tailored to the characteristics of their products, business model, or a platform that can accompany the sustainable development of the business, choosing comprehensive open-source platforms like Magento is necessary. With open-source platforms like Magento, businesses can develop special features, design interfaces freely, and not worry too much about the operating system.

SECOMM confidently accompanies wine businesses on the path of deploying and developing sustainable eCommerce, with successful implementation experience for many wine businesses in various countries such as Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan, and Vietnam. 

Contact SECOMM for detailed advice on the development journey of the eCommerce system for your wine business!

In 2022, the mobile phone retail market is predicted to reach sales figures of up to 1.39 billion units, marking a 3.8% annual increase (according to Trendforce). The Covid pandemic has significantly altered consumer interactions and shopping habits, shifting the purchase of mobile phones from offline to online. Traditional retailers have now caught up with this trend by embracing eCommerce to enhance their competitive edge and sustain growth regardless of the pandemic.

To enter the eCommerce market and seize competitive opportunities, businesses need to identify a suitable eCommerce platform aligned with their business objectives. Apart from popular names like Shopify, BigCommerce, Haravan, and WooCommerce, Magento is recognized as a platform chosen by major players in the mobile phone retail industry in Vietnam, such as CellphoneS, Phong Vũ, and Bạch Long Mobile. So, why is Magento the preferred choice for these businesses?

Advantages of Building a Mobile Phone Retail Website with Magento

Advantages of Building a Mobile Phone Retail Website with Magento

eCommerce Feature System from Basic to Advanced

Basic Features

As a specialized eCommerce platform, Magento naturally offers a full range of basic features such as category management, content management, sales, customer management, marketing, inventory management, as well as reports and analysis. These features allow businesses to easily embark on their eCommerce journey in a short period. 

Magento also possesses an ecosystem with many features supporting the development of in-depth mobile phone business systems.

• Category Management: Manage, develop, and control all data and functions related to products, attributes (brand, price, type of phone, performance, memory, special features, design, screen, size, etc.), pricing system, inventory, images, and videos to maintain efficient business operations.
• Content Management: Develop and refine necessary content and detailed information about products, such as place of origin, brand, instructional videos, and product reviews.
• Marketing Management: Deploy and manage various marketing campaigns according to seasons (Tet, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Flash Sale), and special occasions (launch of new products by Samsung, Apple, Oppo, etc.). These marketing campaigns need to be continuously updated as the product lifecycle shortens, and mobile phone products are constantly innovated.
• Sales Management: Easily set up and operate proactive sales processes through various methods such as barcode sales, item code sales, and brand-based sales (iPhone, Samsung, etc.). Businesses can also integrate customer management to ensure timely warranty service for purchased products.
• Customer Management: Manage comprehensive information about customers to improve marketing efficiency, enhance the shopping experience, and elevate customer satisfaction. This information helps create suitable customer care policies, such as value-added order discounts and gift appreciation for loyal customers, turning ordinary customers into loyal ones.
• Inventory Management: Proactively control the number of phones in each warehouse (by product group, brand, item code, and country of origin), making it easy to supply accurate and fast goods.
• System Management: Administers administrative privileges, uses tools for regular management, and maintenance, and supports the system to operate stably and efficiently.
• Reporting & Analytics: Effectively analyze data after marketing campaigns or accumulate sales data day by day through comprehensive and detailed reporting features to improve and enhance business efficiency. Includes Marketing Reports, Sales Reports, Customer Reports, Product Reports, Review Reports, and Performance Reports.

Advanced Features

The Magento platform is known for its advanced features and extensive extensions developed to meet the rapid development of the eCommerce market and the specific requirements of each business. Thousands of advanced functions related to themes, add-ons, products, marketing, payment, shipping, etc., have been built with flexibility and high availability, delivering outstanding results when integrated into systems, meeting every operational need, and supporting the sustainable development of eCommerce for businesses.

Some advanced features for mobile phone retail that Magento supports include:

Flash Sale Feature: a discount mechanism for certain items or products within a specified time. The strategy of appealing to the customer’s psychology of “buy quickly, get a good price” is being effectively applied by many major mobile phone retailers. With Magento, businesses can easily create multiple Flash sales with countdown timers.

Buy Now Pay Later Feature: This is a popular payment method in the international online mobile phone retail industry but is relatively new in the Vietnamese market. After completing the order, customers will receive the product immediately, and the payment will be gradually made over a certain period with low or 0% interest. Breaking down the payment into instalments will reduce financial pressure on users when buying high-value products such as mobile phones, boosting the number of orders and revenue for businesses.

Advanced SEO Feature: In addition to supporting keywords, meta tags, descriptions, product titles, and searching for appropriate URLs, the Magento platform also updates ranking factors, provides URL structures, and offers meta deployment options to enhance SEO for eCommerce websites, increasing traffic and competitiveness in the market.

Flexibility in Interface Design

Mobile eCommerce is one of the industries that require an eCommerce website to have a sleek, standardized UI/UX interface with high aesthetics to convey brand and product values, attracting customers to shop within the system.  Although Magento does not possess an extensive theme repository like some other platforms, each theme on the platform is meticulously and uniquely designed. 

Businesses can choose to use these themes in the initial stages to save costs. To further refine the interface to better align with the brand’s positioning, businesses can customize based on the chosen theme or design a unique interface. However, this process will require more investment in terms of cost and time.

High Scalability

Magento supports stable system operation even when the website experiences a gradual increase in traffic over time or a sudden surge during business campaigns, with the capability to handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions within an hour.

Furthermore, Magento also supports business expansion into multiple websites for various countries, all manageable on the same “dashboard.” This means that businesses can access and manage data for multiple websites/stores simultaneously using a centralized Magento system. With built-in language conversion support, businesses can build an eCommerce system with content and language tailored to diverse global customer demographics.

Moreover, the Magento system allows for easy conversion of currencies, supporting businesses in expanding their market presence across multiple countries and providing customers with a seamless transaction experience for optimal shopping.

Easy Integration Capability

Diverse Payment and Delivery Integration

In the eCommerce industry, especially in online mobile retail, having a variety of secure and flexible payment methods is crucial. Common payment methods include card payments (ATM, Visa, Mastercard), e-wallets (Momo, Zalo Pay), payment gateways (OnePay, VNPay, PayPal), cash on delivery (COD), etc. For delivery, Magento seamlessly integrates with various delivery services available both internationally and in Vietnam, such as FedEx, DHL, Giao Hàng Nhanh, Giao Hàng Tiết Kiệm, Viettel Post, along with popular shipment tracking applications. This ensures efficient handling and optimization of delivery processes. Furthermore, businesses can develop and customize new delivery features to align with customer preferences.

Integration with Enterprise Management Systems

Aside from stable system operation during online business, efficiently managing products and orders is a crucial consideration for businesses. Integrating the website with enterprise management systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) minimizes manual operations and automates operational processes, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for business development. Magento is highly compatible with various management software, such as POS (Square), CRM (Salesforce), and ERP (SAP, Oracle, Odoo), making it a preferred choice for many businesses.

Integration with Marketing Software

One of the challenges in online mobile retail is intense competition, making it difficult to attract customers and climb the ranks on search engines. Magento can be seamlessly integrated with various marketing management software, ranging from email marketing tools (Mailchimp) to advertising platforms (Facebook, Google). Having a unified system for all sales channels on Magento enables businesses to easily control and leverage data, seamlessly transitioning business processes from offline to online. Consequently, businesses can develop and manage corresponding multichannel marketing strategies to personalize the customer experience and optimize eCommerce business.

Challenges in Implementing eCommerce on the Magento Platform

High Development Costs

Despite Magento being highly rated for its eCommerce features and performance, cost remains a significant barrier, preventing businesses from choosing the Magento platform for building e-commerce websites. It is estimated that a well-developed and efficient system on the open-source Magento e-commerce platform typically incurs deployment costs ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 USD.

Usage Cost Table for the First Year of Three Magento Versions:

• Magento Community: Free
• Magento Enterprise: $22,000 – $125,000
• Magento Enterprise Cloud: $40,000 – $190,000

Extended Development Time

Typically, a complete Magento project requires an implementation time frame of 3-6 months, sometimes extending up to a year. One reason for the prolonged development time is the complexity of the system’s functionality, demanding time to build suitable development solutions.

Need for an Experienced Specialized Team

A fully functional and effective Magento website needs to be developed by an experienced team well-versed in Magento to build a comprehensive system and provide suitable solutions for the various long-term business requirements.

In summary, Magento is a comprehensive open-source eCommerce platform, specialized and suitable for various business models in the mobile electronic industry, including B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and D2C. Online mobile retail businesses can fully customize and control the system, from interface to features, providing the best experience for consumers through rich eCommerce features, a diverse ecosystem, and high flexibility and scalability. 

However, budgetary constraints, time considerations, and the requirement for a highly skilled team also make it challenging for many businesses to utilize Magento for deploying eCommerce websites. 

Contact SECOMM for a free consultation on developing an eCommerce system for mobile retail!

In recent times, eCommerce has been increasingly popular in the Vietnamese market and is becoming a potential business model pursued by many enterprises across various industries. Particularly in the mobile phone retail sector, the online market share of mobile phone retail systems is growing rapidly. For instance, The Gioi Di Dong – the largest mobile phone retail system in Vietnam, saw its online market share increase from 11.6% to 17.5% in just one month (from July to August 2021)

Nowadays, many mobile phone retail businesses in Vietnam often choose to implement eCommerce websites as their main channel in online commerce. Thanks to the effective development of website systems, many mobile phone retail businesses have not only seized the opportunity to boost revenue but also achieved sustainable business growth. The common factor contributing to this success lies in the eCommerce platform.

Each type of eCommerce platform has its unique features that can support businesses in developing their online presence. Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms are designed by providers with the entire system pre-built, including hosting, interface, features, and infrastructure maintenance. Therefore, businesses can easily build and operate a website system without much concern for technical issues and without investing too much time and money from the outset.

However, businesses using SaaS platforms will not own the source code and data, and the system’s scalability and integration capabilities are limited. Usage costs may increase over time. On the other hand, open-source platforms give businesses full ownership and control over the source code and data, allowing freedom in designing interfaces and offering high scalability and flexibility. Nevertheless, using open-source platforms often requires a specialized development team and more investment in terms of cost and time.

So, which eCommerce platform will be suitable for mobile phone retail businesses?

The criteria for choosing a platform

User interface and administrative interface

The user interface of an eCommerce system is considered the face and highest scoring aspect in online business. Therefore, besides meeting UI/UX standards and expressing the brand’s characteristics, products, businesses also need to focus on the presentation of product images on the website, ensuring synchronization and clarity. 

This ensures a complete and satisfying experience for customers.  The admin interface must be user-friendly, allowing easy navigation, control, and management of all data within the system.

A diverse range of eCommerce system features 

With online retail of mobile phones, the eCommerce system’s feature set needs to be diverse, ranging from basic to advanced and specialized, aiming to provide an optimal experience for buyers and facilitate the efficient and sustainable development of the eCommerce system.

Some essential functions in the eCommerce website system for mobile phone retail businesses include:

• Basic Functions: Meeting the most basic operational needs of the eCommerce system, such as order management, categories, content, marketing management, customer management, inventory, system management, reporting, checkout, payment, shipping, etc.
• Advanced Functions: Enhancing the consumer experience and expediting the shopping process with features like order tracking, abandoned cart recovery, product suggestions, quick product search, layered product categories, etc.
• Specialized Functions: Addressing specific challenges in implementing eCommerce for mobile phone retail, catering to the unique needs of customer segments and businesses. Examples include Flash sale programs, instalment plans, buy now pay later options, etc.

High integration capability

To have a seamless online business system, businesses often need to integrate eCommerce platforms with other software and technology platforms they are currently using, such as:

• Payment Integration: Integrating various payment methods from domestic to international cards, payment gateways (Paypal, Stripe, OnePay), e-wallets (Momo, ZaloPay), etc.
• Shipping Integration: Integrating international shipping providers (DHL Express, FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.) and local ones in Vietnam (Giao Hang Nhanh, Giao Hang Tiet Kiem, Ninja Van, etc.). Additionally, order-tracking applications help streamline and operate shipping processes.
• Management Software: Easily integrating CRM, ERP, and POS software for seamless connectivity across all supply channels from offline to online.
• Marketing Management: Integrating additional marketing tools such as email marketing software (MailChimp, Drip…), marketing analytics software (Google Analytics, Google Adwords Keywords…), and social media management software (Buffer, Hootsuite…). Integrating these marketing management tools can help businesses implement marketing campaigns, attract customers, and increase conversion rates to maximize both eCommerce and overall business revenue.

The chosen eCommerce platform must have flexible, seamless, and effective integration capabilities with this software without affecting the execution level of each system. This integration helps businesses overcome the limitations of manual operation and increases automation for both back-office management and sales, ensuring high accuracy and operational efficiency for business development.

High scalability capability

eCommerce platforms need to have high scalability to adapt and grow alongside businesses of all models. Choosing the right platform can accompany businesses from startup and SME stages to becoming large enterprises, and from B2B, B2C, and D2C models to B2B2C, helping save long-term budget while still building a sustainable, efficient system suitable for the business.

High scalability meets all future development needs of the business, such as expanding multiple websites, across countries, currencies, channels, etc. Moreover, platforms with high scalability ensure stable system operation regardless of increasing traffic and transactions over time.

Review 5 eCommerce platforms for mobile phone retail websites 

Shopify

Shopify is a well-known giant in the field of building eCommerce systems as a Software as a Service (SaaS). This platform is favoured for its user-friendly nature, quick build time, and low initial costs, making it suitable for many SMEs.

User Interface Criteria

Shopify provides attractive, responsive themes suitable for various industries, including mobile phone retail. While adhering to UI/UX standards, it lacks customization options for businesses to showcase their unique branding.

Admin Interface Criteria

The admin interface is user-friendly on desktops, allowing easy management of the website’s aspects. However, mobile functionality is limited, restricting businesses to perform specific functions on the mobile version.

Functionality System Criteria

Shopify’s functionality system is comprehensive, meeting both the basic and advanced needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. However, accessing advanced features requires additional monthly payments, leading to increasing usage costs. Shopify, however, lacks certain features crucial for mobile phone retail, aside from instalment payment options.

Integration Capability Criteria

Shopify restricts access to the source code, making integration with third-party software challenging. Businesses can only integrate with partner software available on the platform or those directly developed by Shopify.

Scalability Criteria

Scalability on the Shopify platform is limited because businesses cannot modify or upgrade the website source code. Therefore, it’s often used by mobile phone retail businesses in their early stages.

Usage Cost Criteria

Shopify offers various service packages to cater to different business needs, ranging from $29/month for Basic Shopify to $2000/month for Shopify Plus. However, businesses may face limitations in advanced features, necessitating a platform switch for a specialized and sustainable system.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 2/5

Shopify is suitable for SMEs that want a cost-effective and quick eCommerce system. However, it falls short in advanced features, specific functionalities, and customization options. Businesses must accept the limitations and be prepared to switch platforms for a tailored and sustainable solution in the future.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source CMS plugin for WordPress introduced in 2011, completely free, enabling businesses to turn their WordPress websites into online stores.

User Interface Criteria

WooCommerce offers a diverse library of templates for mobile phone retail and electronic goods, designed meticulously and user-friendly. This allows businesses to conveniently design and build an eCommerce system from the start without requiring in-depth technical knowledge.

Because WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, administrators continue to manage the website through the WordPress interface, making it easy for businesses already using WordPress to adapt, use, and navigate the system.

Functionality System Criteria

WooCommerce has many features, both basic and advanced, to support businesses in operating an eCommerce website. However, the platform has some limitations regarding specific features for mobile phone retail. Although it’s open-source, developing unique features on WooCommerce can be challenging and may lead to system instability.

Integration Capability Criteria

Third-party software integrates well with WooCommerce, helping businesses save time, and costs, improve operational efficiency, and automate management processes.

• Payment: Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Square…
• Shipping: USPS, UPS, and FedEx…
• Management Software: Odoo, Square POS, and WP ERP.
• Marketing Management: Google Listings, Google Ads, Facebook Pixel…

Scalability Criteria

WooCommerce’s most significant drawback is its limited scalability. The platform tends to become unstable and easily overloaded when there are more than 2,000 SKUs or too many themes and plugins on the system.

Usage Cost Criteria

WooCommerce is an open-source platform, so it’s entirely free to use. However, businesses need to pay for additional services such as domain registration ($15), hosting fees ($120/year), and system development costs (ranging from $3,000 to $10,000, depending on system complexity).

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

WooCommerce is a good platform for businesses currently using WordPress and looking to develop an eCommerce system. However, the platform has limitations in customization and adjusting unique features. Intervening in the system is likely to cause instability, and there is a high probability that the built-in features are not compatible with the platform. Additionally, to customize the system based on the existing feature set, businesses will need to invest a significant budget and time.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a SaaS platform based in the USA with over 600,000 online stores used by consumers worldwide.

User Interface Criteria

BigCommerce possesses a diverse theme repository with over 160 templates, catering to various industries, including mobile phone retail and electronics. All these templates are designed following UI/UX standards, allowing for easy adjustments to fit the brand.

For the administrator interface, businesses can manage their stores on a real-time and easily trackable screen.

Functionality System Criteria

BigCommerce’s functionality is relatively comprehensive, meeting basic and advanced needs, as well as specific features for mobile phone retail businesses. However, since BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, businesses cannot modify the source code or develop additional features not already available on the platform. Businesses can only use the features provided by BigCommerce or those offered by the platform’s partners.

Some notable advanced and specific features available on BigCommerce suitable for mobile phone retail businesses include multi-currency support, advanced SEO, rating and review features, advanced reporting, and instalment payment capabilities.

Integration Capability Criteria

BigCommerce has a relatively high integration capability, allowing integration with many popular third-party software to support business operations.

Some software that can be integrated with BigCommerce includes various payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, ApplePay, Checkout), shipping solutions (ShipStation, Amazon Shipping, Easyship, Route), ERP systems (NetSuite ERP, Acumatica Cloud ERP), CRM (HubSpot, Revamp), and marketing tools (email marketing, social media integration).

Scalability Criteria

The system’s scalability depends on the BigCommerce service package that the business is using. The platform can support business expansion into new markets, multiple currencies, and languages. Additionally, BigCommerce can support stable system operations for businesses handling thousands of SKUs.

Usage Cost Criteria

BigCommerce currently supports three bundled solutions and one on-demand solution:

• Standard Plan: $29.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $50,000
• Plus Plan: $79.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $180,000
• Pro Plan: $299.95/month, suitable for businesses with sales over $400,000
• Enterprise Plan: for large enterprises, and the cost will be based on the online sales volume of the brand.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

BigCommerce is almost a comprehensive SaaS platform for businesses entering the mobile phone retail eCommerce journey. The platform can be suitable for various business models, including B2B, B2C, and B2B2C, depending on the chosen subscription package. However, the limitation of using this platform is that businesses are restricted in their ability to customize functions on the system, limited in annual revenue with each subscription tier, and unable to own the source code. 

Haravan

Haravan, founded in 2014, stands as one of the renowned platforms in the Vietnamese market, boasting over 50,000 businesses and consumer brands. It operates as a service platform modelled on Shopify.

User Interface Criteria

Similar to other SaaS platforms, Haravan boasts a diverse theme repository with over 400 templates, all designed following UX/UI standards. Beyond that, businesses can customize the interface to align with their distinctive brand identity. The admin interface, supporting the Vietnamese language, ensures a user-friendly experience for businesses.

Functionality System Criteria

Haravan offers a comprehensive set of both basic and advanced features, enabling businesses to swiftly establish an eCommerce website. The platform includes specific functionalities tailored for mobile phone retail, such as installment payment options. However, akin to Shopify and BigCommerce, businesses cannot develop additional features beyond what Haravan offers in its repository.

Integration Capability Criteria

Integration with third-party utilities outside Haravan’s ecosystem can be challenging, representing a significant limitation of service-type platforms. However, it does support integration with widely used services in Vietnam, including various payment methods (Momo, VNPay, ZaloPay, etc.), shipping services (Giao Hàng Nhanh, Viettel Post, DHL), and management tools (CRMViet, Teamcrop).

Scalability Criteria

Haravan’s scalability is limited; it supports multilingual and multi-currency features but lacks the capability to expand to multiple websites or efficiently manage extensive data on the platform.

Usage Cost Criteria

To use Haravan, businesses need to pay a reasonable monthly fee ranging from 200,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND, depending on business needs:

• Standard: 200,000 VND/month for individual sellers
• Pro: 600,000 VND/month for businesses wanting to implement Omnichannel
• Grow: 1,500,000 VND/month with the advantage of automating customer care and re-engagement programs
• Scale: 3,000,000 VND/month to build a loyal customer base.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria: 3/5

Haravan is a suitable platform for businesses in Vietnam with limited technology experience and budget constraints. However, as businesses grow, Haravan may not provide sufficient functionality to sustain operations. Eventually, transitioning to more specialized platforms like Magento, WooCommerce, or OpenCart becomes necessary, albeit with challenges such as costs, time, and human resources.

Magento

Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform with deep expertise in online commerce. It currently offers two versions: Open Source (free) and Commerce (paid). Recognized as one of the most comprehensive eCommerce platforms, Magento boasts diverse features, high flexibility, scalability, a diverse ecosystem, and optimal security.

User Interface Criteria

Unlike other platforms, Magento doesn’t have an extensive theme repository. However, each theme is meticulously designed, unique, adheres to UX/UI standards, and emphasizes high aesthetics to convey brand and product values, attracting customers to the system.

Businesses can save costs and time by using available themes, while also having the option to customize for brand identity. Additionally, businesses can fully design their interface, enhancing brand recognition, though this requires careful investment in design time and costs.

For the admin interface, Magento 1 was criticized for being challenging to use. However, Magento 2 introduced a more intuitive dashboard, making navigation easier, user-friendly, and adaptable.

Functionality System Criteria

Magento’s eCommerce platform has a diverse and deep feature system, catering from basic to advanced and specific functions. This allows mobile phone retail businesses to easily and rapidly build and develop their system in the short and long term. Basic functions include Category Management, Content Management, Customer Management, Marketing Management, Order Management, Store Management, System Management, Cart and Checkout, and Reporting & Analysis.

Specialized features include support for multiple languages, currencies, stores, Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Multi-Source Inventory (MSI), ElasticSearch, etc., enhancing the customer experience and accelerating the shopping process.

Integration Capability Criteria

Magento excels in easy integration with third-party software for payments (credit cards, e-wallets, payment gateways, cash on delivery), shipping (Fedex, DHL, local carriers), management software (POS, CRM, ERP), and marketing tools (email marketing, advertising).

Scalability Criteria

Magento ensures stable system operation even with increasing traffic over time or sudden spikes in business campaigns. It can handle up to 500,000 products and thousands of transactions within an hour. Magento supports the expansion of multiple websites for various countries, all manageable on one screen, allowing businesses to access and manage data for multiple websites/stores simultaneously.

Usage Cost Criteria

One significant limitation for mobile phone retailers opting for Magento is the high initial development cost. A fully functional Magento system development is estimated to range from $10,000 to $100,000. Beyond complex and advanced features, the need for an experienced professional team contributes to the higher implementation costs compared to other platforms.

→ Overall Rating based on 5 criteria:  4/5

Magento is a comprehensive platform suitable for mobile phone retail businesses, whether B2B, B2C, or D2C, especially those with an existing customer base and a desire to develop a long-term eCommerce system. With Magento, businesses can continuously develop components of the eCommerce system, ensuring optimal performance and sustainable growth.

Choosing the right platform for eCommerce is crucial for mobile phone retailers. An accurate choice helps businesses shorten development time, save costs, and maximize resources to achieve the highest revenue levels. SECOMM understands the challenges facing mobile phone retail businesses and provides expert advice. 

Contact SECOMM now for a free consultation!

The retail market for mobile phones in Vietnam is booming like never before! With 61 million users, Vietnam is currently among the top 10 markets with the highest mobile phone usage in Asia. Furthermore, this market is predicted to grow in 2022 by 47.5% (according to Trendforce).

Taking advantage of this opportunity, many retail businesses in Vietnam have achieved tremendous success and continuously expanded their scale, such as The Gioi Di Dong, FPT Shop, Viettel Store, etc.

To contribute to this success, one cannot ignore e-commerce. Online sales channels such as websites, mobile apps, and e-commerce platforms play an increasingly important role for retail businesses in the mobile phone industry, especially post-pandemic.

According to Debasish Jana, an expert from the market research company Counterpoint Research, online sales of mobile phones have increased compared to the same period last year, accounting for 14% of the total market share. Not stopping there, the growth rate of online mobile phone retail is projected to increase even further shortly, reaching 29% by 2025 (according to Google, Temasek, Bain & Company).

E-commerce helps retail businesses develop their business models and contributes to revenue growth for enterprises.

The Gioi Di Dong

The Gioi Di Dong is a brand under the company The Gioi Di Dong Joint Stock Company, established in 2004. According to Euromonitor International, The Gioi Di Dong is the largest online retail company in Vietnam, holding a 10% market share. It is also the leading retail chain for mobile devices in Vietnam, with approximately 1,000 stores present in all 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

Currently, this retail business is heavily investing in online sales systems such as websites and apps.

• Website: https://www.thegioididong.com/  
• Website Traffic: 30.20M/mn

CellphoneS

CellphoneS is a retail system for well-known technology products in Vietnam. Currently, the business has a presence in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Thai Nguyen, and Vung Tau.

• Website: https://cellphones.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 9.08M/mn

FPT Shop

FPT Shop is under the ownership of FPT Corporation Vietnam, established in 2012. It is an officially authorized dealer of Apple in Vietnam at the highest level, specializing in providing genuine electronic products. Currently, the retail chain system spans across the country with stores in all 63 provinces and cities.

• Website: https://www.fptshop.com.vn
• Website Traffic: 5.933M/mn

Hoang Ha Mobile

Hoang Ha Mobile is a retail system specializing in providing genuine technology products and well-known mobile phones in Vietnam, established in 2014. Currently, the business has over 90 branches spanning from the North to the South.

• Website: https://www.hoanghamobile.com
• Website Traffic: 4.818M/mn

Di Dong Viet

The Mobile Technology Company Limited operates the Didongviet.vn retail chain, established in 2009 as a reputable system specializing in genuine technology products, notably mobile phones, tablets, laptops, accessories, and components.

• Website: https://www.didongviet.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.787M/mn

Viettel Store

Viettel Store was launched in 2009 with thousands of continuously updated products to meet the online shopping needs of customers nationwide. With over 200 stores, Viettel Store’s retail system provides a wide range of high-tech devices and products, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and medical equipment.

• Website: https://www.viettelstore.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.673M/mn

Sony Store

Sony is one of the most globally renowned brands in consumer electronics, thanks to its revolutionary innovations and product quality. After 21 years in Vietnam, Sony has established a retail system consisting of 11 Sony Shops and Sony Centers, over 160 official dealers, and 70 authorized service stations spread across the country.

• Website: https://www. store.sony.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.649M/mn

Phong Vu

Phong Vũ is known as a long-established and reputable retail unit in Vietnam since 2007, with over 30 stores nationwide. Specializing in the business of information technology products, gaming and entertainment devices, office equipment, and high-tech devices from various major brands.

• Website: https://www.phongvu.vn
• Website Traffic: 1.479M/mn

Mobile City

Mobile City is one of the popular retailers of smartphones, tablets, and technology accessories in Vietnam, with over 10 years of experience.

• Website: https://mobilecity.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.216M/mn

Clickbuy

Clickbuy is a retail system offering well-known technology products in Vietnam, established in 2012. Currently, Clickbuy has expanded to include 5 stores and 2 modern service centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

• Website: https://clickbuy.com.vn/
• Website Traffic: 1.190M/mn

Developing E-commerce Solutions for the Mobile Phone Retail Industry

Online business in the mobile phone industry presents numerous growth opportunities. However, to succeed, businesses need a partner with extensive experience in the e-commerce landscape.

With a successful track record in implementing complex e-commerce systems, SECOMM understands the challenges that businesses face.

Contact us now for a free consultation on comprehensive e-commerce system development solutions!