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Nowadays, Vietnam tech industry is growing very fast, specially in terms of internet usage and software development. According to the Euromonitor, Vietnam reached 43 million people using internet comparing to 28 million 5 years ago and e-commerce took a big slice of the cake.
Euromonitor has identified the top three emerging Internet markets in 2014, based on growth rates in annual digital indicators such as online ad spend, e-commerce, Internet users and mobile Internet subscriptions. These countries are Vietnam, Chile and Iran, as improved local telecom infrastructure, growing IT literacy and greater adoption of new technological platforms are driving more consumers to the web.
Improved conditions for the growth of domestic Internet start-ups, clearer regulatory oversight regarding web commerce and cheaper costs of telecom services are allowing more businesses to launch or expand their online offerings.
Therefore now software architects and software developers are in demand.
According to the GSO statistics, Vietnam accounts for 6000 companies providing web design and development services, it does not include outsourcing companies from abroad.
Now, this industry creates a lot of job opportunities but at the same time it is extremely competitive.
According to Vietnam IT conference, they are the key drivers of growth.
Vietnam Tech Industry – Rapid growth
- A Large and Growing Talent Pool
- Established and Experienced Service Providers
- Political Stability and Government Support
- A Great Geographic Location
- Strong Investment in Tech Talent
- Top Rankings in Global Outsourcing Studies
- Low Attrition and Exceptional Value for Talent
- A Growing Global Tech Hub with Rising Domestic Demand
Vietnam provides a deep talent pool for international tech companies, having more than 107,472 software developers and 77,487 digital content specialists in the IT workforce. And with over 40,000 new graduates from IT-related programs each year, the IT workforce is growing very fast.
Moreover, Vietnam has a young, tech-savvy population with a strong interest in IT careers. Students gain exposure to computer science at a younger age than in many Western countries, and gain high marks in international science and technology exams. And industry surveys show a passion for technology that is unique and impressive.
Also, Vietnam has a political stability and government support. The government is strongly committed to growing the Vietnam tech industry. Policies to promote the industry include special enterprise zones, tax breaks and grants for tech companies. They also include infrastructure investments like new software parks and improved ICT connectivity.
Vietnam’s leaders are able to make strong, long-term decisions. Political stability also means social stability. While some IT hubs have unpredictable government policies and occasional social upheaval, Vietnam offers consistency and reliability.
Government of Vietnam invests in IT education, provides tax benefits to software companies, finances software parks, and is investing to improve digital infrastructure.
As for the tech companies in Vietnam, they are working to develop the talent pipeline for the future. They are actively partnering with universities, high schools, local NGOs and foreign governments to build new, modern educational programs and facilities, which will ensure that Vietnam’s IT workforce stays current and valuable to foreign buyers.
Recently, one notable program is the Higher Education Engineering Alliance Partnership (HEEAP), a $40 million program to improve tech education at Vietnam’s universities. Founded by Intel, the United States Agency for International Development and Arizona State University, they’ve already provided advanced training to thousands of Vietnamese professors, and have big plans for the future.
Another notable program is Vietnam-German University (VGU), a technical school that recently received a $180 million loan from the World Bank to build a new campus for 12,000 students. With a large and growing computer science program, VGU aims to become a leading research university in Asia.
What is extremely important in my opinion is rotation rate and loyalty and Vietnam’s tech workers are loyal to their employers. Low attrition keeps HR and training costs down. It also ensures dependability and integrity among tech teams, which is particularly valuable for companies seeking long-term development and maintenance contracts.
Numerous studies by independent research and consulting firms rank Vietnam as one of the world’s most competitive and promising outsourcing destinations. In 2011, AT Kearney’s Global Services Location Index rated Vietnam as having the #1 most financially attractive workforce in the world. In 2014, Vietnam was listed as one of Gartner’s Top 30 Offshore Services Locations. And in 2015, both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi ranked as Top 20 cities in the Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations study.
Also, Vietnam is featured in Wall Street Journal quite frequently as a top country to do outsourcing.
When Bill Gates visited Vietnam, he said: There is no reason why Vietnam can not develop software outsourcing like any other country, Vietnam has enough conditions to do outsourcing. That is why many companies chose Vietnam to do offshoring and Apiumhub doing offshoring there for quite a long period of time came to the conclusion that it is a fantastic country to do business there.
E-commerce is growing extremely fast in Vietnam
Rapid economic growth has allowed more Vietnamese consumers to purchase home broadband connections, smartphones and tablets, resulting in the online population almost doubling in the last 5 years.
Subsequently, there has been a surge in the demand for online services and this has been most keenly felt in e-commerce. Shopping mall operators are investing massively into the development of online purchasing platforms, anticipating the impending transfer of consumption from offline to online points.
Online shopping in Vietnam has undergone a major surge in recent months, with the country now having the second fastest e-commerce growth rate in the Asia-Pacific region. In a survey conducted by MasterCard, the country was only behind Malaysia in terms of its rate of uptake.
The top three sectors for online shoppers in Vietnam were airline tickets, home appliances and electronic products, and general travel.
The most popular websites among Vietnamese online shoppers were Lazada (24.4%) – by the way its Apiumhub client, Hotdeal (21.9%), Mua Chung (16.2%) and Chotot (14.7%).
As e-commerce becomes essential in life of Vietnamese people, it is important to know the main web design aspects, that are very common only in Vietnam:
Common characteristics of Vietnamese e-commerce web
- Maximum information on the home page, that person entering the web could see products, services, contents, ads from the first sight
- A lot of visuals, a lot of pictures
- Very colorful pages
- Full explanation of the service/product
Comparing to the European design: minimum words, few colours, minimalism, simplicity. Vietnamese design is very different because of the cultural differences. Vietnamese designers made several experiments, designing Vietnamese webs for the Vietnamese people using European UX and design style. The result was that users found these webs boring with few information and the bounce rate was very high.
Therefore it is important to have a deep knowledge of the country target, to use the right design strategy.
