Các thuộc tính quan trọng để thu hút người tiêu dùng trực tuyến tại Việt Nam

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KEY ATTRIBUTES TO WIN ONLINE CONSUMERS IN VIETNAM
CÁC THUỘC TÍNH QUAN TRỌNG ĐỂ THU HÚT NGƯỜI TIÊU DÙNG
TRỰC TUYẾN TẠI VIỆT NAM
NGUYEN DUC QUYNH LAN *
NGUYEN DUC BAO LONG *

Tóm tắt
Mục đích của bài viết này là xem xét các thuộc tính quan trọng để thu hút được người tiêu dùng trực
tuyến tại Việt Nam. Điều này được thực hiện bằng cách khám phá các yếu tố thúc đẩy người tiêu dùng
Việt Nam mua hàng trực tuyến hoặc ngoại tuyến thông qua phân tích các yếu tố như giá tốt nhất, sở thích
trang web, lựa chọn giao hàng tốt nhất và giá cả, chủng loại phong phú và sản phẩm & dịch vụ. Ngoài
ra, nghiên cứu cũng đã khám phá cách thức quyết định mua bán trực tuyến bị ảnh hưởng bởi giới tính,
tuổi tác, khu vực sinh sống, nghề nghiệp, trình độ học vấn và thu nhập. Các thuộc tính ảnh hưởng đến việc
người Việt Nam mua trực tuyến hoặc ngoại tuyến đã được tiết lộ thông qua nghiên cứu định lượng bằng
cách phân tích dữ liệu thu thập được thông qua bảng câu hỏi điều tra. Mẫu này bao gồm hơn 300 người
hoặc đang mua hàng trực tuyến hoặc ngoại tuyến trả lời. Những phát hiện của nghiên cứu cho thấy rằng
các thuộc tính chính để giành được người tiêu dùng mua sắm trực tuyến Việt Nam là giá tốt hơn, sở thích
trang web, lựa chọn giao hàng tốt nhất /giá cả, chất lượng sản phẩm và dịch vụ. Một phát hiện thú vị nữa
từ nghiên cứu này là nhóm nhà giàu có có thể gây ảnh hưởng tiêu cực đến trải nghiệm người tiêu dùng
trực tuyến. Nghiên cứu cũng cho thấy những người trả lời từ 18 đến 36 tuổi có thu nhập trung bình 1000
USD / tháng chọn mua sắm trực tuyến nhiều hơn các nhóm khác và người trả lời sống ở thành phố Hồ
Chí Minh có xu hướng mua sắm trực tuyến nhiều hơn ở Hà Nội. Các yếu tố có lợi nhất của mua sắm trực
tuyến đã được xác định là khả năng mua ở mức giá thấp hơn và thuận tiện. Nghiên cứu được thực hiện
dựa trên các điều kiện chung và không chỉ định cho kinh doanh điện tử và có thể không nhất thiết phải áp
dụng cho kinh doanh điện tử. Do đó, nghiên cứu trong tương lai có thể được thực hiện bởi nhóm sản
phẩm. Các thuộc tính được xác định bởi nghiên cứu này có thể giúp Thương mại điện tử khởi động, giúp

Thương mại điện tử quốc tế tiến vào thị trường trực tuyến Việt Nam để hình thành chiến lược tiếp thị trực
tuyến tốt hơn về mặt địa lý, ưu tiên của khách hàng để thu hút người tiêu dùng Việt Nam mua hàng trực
tuyến, sau đó chọn trang web của họ hơn người khác.
Từ khóa: Trực tuyến, thương mại điện tử, thuộc tính, Việt Nam, người tiêu dùng.
Summary
The purpose of this paper was to look at key attributes to win online consumers in Vietnam. This was
done by exploring factors that drive a Vietnamese consumer to buy online or offline through analysis of
factors such as best price, website preference, best delivery option & price, rich assortment and product
& service. In addition, the research was also explored how online decision affected by gender, age, areas
of living, occupation, education level and income. The attributes that influence Vietnamese to buy online
or offline have been disclosed through quantitative research by analyzing data collected via questionnaire
survey. The sample was consisted of over 300 respondents who either are buying online or offline. The
findings of the study indicate that the main attributes to win Vietnamese online shopping consumers are
better price, website preference, best delivery option/price and quality of product and service. One more
interesting finding from the research was the rich assortment can give negative affect online consumer
experience. The research also showed that respondents of the 18 to 36 years age group with the average
income of USD 1000 per month choose shopping online more than other groups and respondents living
in Ho Chi Minh city tend to shop online more than those in Hanoi. The most beneficial factors of shopping
online have been identified as the possibility of buying at lower price and the convenience. The research
was done based on general conditions and do not specify to e-business and may not necessarily be applicable to e-business. Therefore, the future research can be done by product group. Attributes identified by
this study could help e-Commerce Start-ups, International E-commerce entering Vietnamese online
market to better form their online e-marketing strategies in terms of geography areas, customer preference to attract Vietnamese consumers online first, then choose their website over others.
Keywords: Online, e-commerce, attribute, Vietnam, consumer.
* Dong Do University, Vietnam
Ngày nhận bài: 5/5/2018; ngày thẩm định 15/7/2018; ngày duyệt đăng: 15/9/2018
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Introduction
Research Background
In many countries, shopping habits are changing
fast. In the last decade, the use of e-Commerce has
become very common following the spread of IT
system such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Today e-shoppers penetration is 43.5% in Asia
Pacific, 58% Europe and 70% in North America
(e-Commerce Foundation, 2017). More precisely,
83% of China consumers and 74% of Thailand
consumers purchase physical and virtual goods
(Statista, 2018). Mobility is everything, as we
spend on an average more than four hours per day
on our phones. For most e-Commerce sites, mobile
visits now account for more than 50% of total
traffic. The biggest challenge is that 86% of that
mobile time we spend in apps like social media and
messaging, and therefore significant less time in
browsers. So, you must find ways to engage the
customers where they are – how do you use the
new channels to drive conversion both directly in
the messaging and social interface like we do on
Pinterest for example, but also by driving them to
your website (Jeff, 2017).

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Enabled by technology, the continued year over
year growth in online shopping has been fueled by

a new generation of consumers who want greater
convenience, value and options. These poses both
challenges and significant opportunities (KPMG,
2017).
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MoT), Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest growing e-Commerce countries. The country’s e-Commerce market is growing by 35% a year, 2.5 times
faster than Japan’s.
Over the past few years, Vietnam’s continuous
rapid economic growth has manifested itself in its
population’s consumption power. Vietnamese
Internet users have increased their online spending
over the years. Currently their online average
annual spending per user is USD 70.18, an increase
of USD 15.18 from 2016 (USD 55 per annum).
Vietnamese online shopping lists have also broadened considerably, shifting from the initial selection of books to now a large collection of product
categories, including fashion, electronics and
media, food and personal care, furniture and appliances, toys, hobbies, DIY and many others.
According to VECITA, Vietnam e-Commerce has
even reached 4.07 billion dollars in 2015 and
expected to expand to 10 billion dollars 2020 (Vietnam E-Commerce and information Technology

Figure 1 B2C E-Commerce Growth Rate: By Country
Source: e-Commerce Foundation, 2017

Within the dynamic Asian region Vietnam is,
fueled by the strong growth in GDP and regional
developments like TPP, one of the fastest growing
nations in the world and expected to continue to do
so in the years to come.

Figure 3 Vietnam Consumers Connect More
and More Via Mobile
Source: GWI Vietnam Report, Mar 2017

Agency, 2016). Though there are different statistics
from different sources, there is one general trend
which is Vietnam e-Commerce market is rapidly
growing.
Though fast growth the past few years, Vietnam
Figure 2 GDP Vietnam Development Vietnam vs World
e-Commerce is still in its infancy. Percentage of
Source: World Bank
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retail sales made online in Vietnam is only 0.6% of
total retail sales while more mature market such as
China can reach 15.9%, Japan 4.4%, and our neighborhood countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand already hit 1.7%, 1.1% and 0.8% accordingly ((E-marketer, 2015)).

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Problem Statement/ Research question
There were more than 10,000 e-Commerce
platforms and websites registered by 2015 in Vietnam, doubling the number from 2014 (VnExpress,
2016). Vietnam e-Commerce market is quite young
(only 5 years old). The largest players in the market

are Lazada, Adayroi.com, Cho Tot, Senda.vn, Thegioididong, Tiki.vn, Shoppe. On top of local players, Vietnam e-Commerce market is attracting
many e-Commerce giants investing into the market
such as Alibaba, JD, Amazon...

Figure 4 Vietnam e-Commerce is Still in Its Infancy
Source: Q&me, Google and Temasek,
E-marketer July 2015

Figure 6 International E-Commerce Giants in Vietnam
Source: Lazada, 2017

In addition while only 39% of internet users has
purchased a product or service online, the penetration rate is forecasted to reach 44.9% in 2022
(Lazada, 2016). If we compare with our neighbor
market such as Thailand at 74%, Indonesia at 79%,
this forecast is not a dream.

According to the survey of VECITA for the last
5 years, the application of e-Commerce in enterprises not only focused on the big cities but also
spread nationwide. Many new and diverse forms of
businesses are operated and implemented (VECITA, 2015).

With large population at 94.5 million (World
Bank, 2016), fast GDP growth, income increase,
more and more people are connected to internet,
mobile, fast smartphone pentration growth, Vietnam e-Commerce are having fundamentals in place
for an explonential growth and attraction for
investment both from internation players as well as
startups.

Figure 7 Notification/registration e-Commerce
websites confirmed in Vietnam
Source: VECITA, 2015
Figure 5 Vietnam e-Commerce Key Advantages
for Growth
Source: Tradingecomonics.com, 2017
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Consumers’ perception and consumption
patterns have changed a lot in the mobile Internet
age. As new purchase desires and demands are
created, consumers have higher and new demands
for the connotation and denotation of goods,
consumption scenarios and experience along with
consumption upgrade and update, thus consumption demands have various new business formats.
Accurate understanding of consumers’ demands is
an important premise for enterprises to follow the
trend and readjust strategic orientation (Deloitte,
2015). Along of the market growth, to get growth
and opportunity momentum, understanding how
consumers expect, how they behave are very critical to win the online consumers in Vietnam.

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model e-Commerce market) and ASEAN. It looks
at the technological factors, consumer related

factors as well as factors of pricing and factors of
product and service. Reviews of generation behaviors toward online shopping versus traditional
shopping are also posted in this chapter. The Chapter also goes into details of research and studies on
some research and development concepts related to
the e-Commerce Consumer Behaviors.
Best Price
When consumers were asked what factors motivated them to buy online instead of going to a shop,
the top reasons were time flexibility and cost
savings (KPMG, 2017)

Competition is tougher and tougher. KPMG
reports has shown that, although price was cited by
36% of consumers as a top factor in deciding which
website to buy from, having the most competitive
price won’t guarantee a sale. Having the right product mix is no longer suffcient to attract the new
wave of consumers including
Millennials, who are entirely focused on one
transaction – theirs Consumers today are shopping
all the time and everywhere; and in a truly global
online marketplace, products can easily be
purchased from retailers and manufacturers located
Figure 8 Reasons consumers shop online instead
anywhere in the world – or from those with no
of in stores
physical retail locations at all. Understanding what
Source: KPMG, 2017
drives a consumer to buy online or offline, why do
Price was a critical factor for customer on online
they trust these website over others are critical for
e-Commerce players to formulate their best offer- shopping (Heim and Sinha, 2001). However, Li et

ings as well as marketing strategies. What influence al. (1999) argued that often online shoppers were
not price-sensitive, cause of these consumers’ price
winning the online consumers in Vietnam?
Does the best price influence winning the comparisons among different e-retailers on each
product was time consuming and the price differonline consumers in Vietnam?
ence was very small.
Does the website preference influence
winning the online consumers in Vietnam?
Does the best delivery options/price influence winning the online consumers in Vietnam?
Does the rich assortment influence winning
the online consumers in Vietnam?
Does the product/service influence winning
the online consumers in Vietnam?
Literature Review
This Chapter reviews literature that is relevant to
the research conducted for this thesis. It explores
the development and current status of the world
e-Commerce industry as well as that of China (a

Figure 9 Consumer Opinion: Where to buy
Source: KPMG, 2017
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Price and Delivery options are one of the most
important factors to drive consumers online
(KPMG, 2017).

Figure 10 Consumer Behavior: Purchase Decision
Source: KPMG, 2017

Website Preference
Consumers generally do not possess perfect
information prior to purchase (Biswas and Biswas,
2004) and thus can only indirectly assess the quality of products offered on e-commerce sites via the
latter’s web interface (Jiang and Benbasat, 2004).
Conceivably, consumers’ purchase intentions are
driven by the extent to which their positive feelings
about e-commerce sites are induced by trustworthy
signals that are costly to manipulate (Walther and
Parks, 2002).
Park and Kim (2003; 17) stated that consumers'
trust to a provider or supplier results with becoming
committed to the company. Trust issue is exceeding
with a few successful transactions, after individuals
start feel safe and believe that this supplier answers
their needs and wants. On the other hand, provided
information is another issue in terms of online
shopping for Park and Kim (2003;17). Since online
shopping is an activity which related to a computer-system, individuals cannot touch or feel products. Therefore, their decisions based on the information that provided by online retailer. Information
issue not only important in terms of availability
situation, it is also important in convenience and
personalization concept. Web site design, access to
information, access time to information also influence on behaviors of consumers.
There is a positive relationship between
consumers’ familiarity with an e-commerce site
and their trust in this site (Kim et al., 2008). As

during the final product decision stage, price
remains as the most common consideration when
consumers are deciding where to buy (Figure 2.8),
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particularly in certain categories such as electronics. Having a website that consumers like and/or
trust is also important, especially in Asia, where
consumers said buying from a preferred website
was more important than price (KPMG, 2017).
According to many authors, an effective website
design is critical to the success of electronic commerce, and the functionality, usability, ease-of-navigation and interfaces of the websites themselves
are vital building blocks for sustainable success
(Constantinides, 2004; Yen et al., 2007; Lim et al.,
2009, Colla and Lapoule, 2011)
Best Delivery Options/ Price
Price and Delivery options are one of the most

Figure 11 Consumer Behavior: Purchase Decision
Source: KPMG, 2017

important factors to drive consumers online
(KPMG, 2017).
Young generation are no longer satisfied to
place orders via mobile phones, they also hope to
receive goods more quickly. Instant gratification
has become a feature of this generation of users.
Some research show that 63 percent of post-80s
and 90s are very interested in same-day delivery,

even half of them are willing to pay premiums for
it. Therefore, enterprises can provide instant services such as same-day delivery, online purchase and
offline pickup, etc., to keep pace with the consumption habits of the young generation and improve
user experience. Finally, in terms of aftersales
service, enterprises can simplify procedures and
optimize service experience through a series of
aftersales services provided directly on APP
including goods exchanging and purchase feedbacks (Deloitte, 2017).
Last mile delivery is one of the paint paints of
online shopping in China (Fung Business Intelligence, 2017)


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Figure 12 Waiting for the online purchase is not
always an exciting experience
Source: Fung Business Intelligence, 2017

Rich Assortment
Merchandising includes product-related characteristics such as assortment, variety, and product
information (Jarvenpaa and Todd, 1997). Rich
product assortment can increase the probability that
consumer-needs will be met and satisfied. The
online shopping environment enables consumers to
reduce their decision-making efforts by providing
vast selection, information screening, reliability,
and product comparison (Alba et al, 1997). The
research conducted by Q&Me shown that Product
variety is one of the reasons to shop online for Vietnamese (Q&Me, 2017).

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Figure 14 Stated Market Consideration Factors
Source: Lazada, 2017

Product and Service
Many consumers who are deciding to buy
in-store because they are concerned about products/services and delivery time.

Figure 15 Reasons Consumers
Shop in Stores instead of Online
Source: KPMG, 2017

Price/promotions and product features drive
most purchase decisions globally.
Figure 13 Reasons to Shop Online
Source: Q&Me, 2017

Product detail, fast delivery, cash-on delivery,
wide product range and product reviews are stated
drivers to online shopping (Lazada, 2017).
Figure 16 Consumer Behavior: Purchase Decision
Source: KPMG, 2017
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Research Methodology
Research Framework
This research is mainly to test the relationship
between the online consumers’ behavior and its
influencing factors through measuring the perception of survey participants of statements related to
factors. Therefore, Descriptive and Exploratory
Research has been chosen as the most appropriate
methodology for this study, as it is explanatory and
theory building research. Yin (1994) explains how
and why questions are explanatory. Such questions
deal with operational links needing to be traced
over time, rather than mere frequencies or
incidence, which supports the research question.

Data Collection
This research used interviews, questionnaires
and documents provided by the organisation as part
of the data collection process during this study.
As most respondents are spread amongst Ho Chi
Minh City, Hanoi and other provinces, questionnaire have been collected through Google Forms
for collaboration. In general there were no problems encountered with this process.
The objectives of the research and questionnaire
were stated clearly in the introduction to ensure the
participants understood what was required of them.

Data Analysis and Findings
Multicollinearity
The researcher identified five factors that might

Table 1 shows the test of collinearity. The values
have relationship with the online consumers’
of the independent variables are in the range of
behavior in Vietnam including technological
1.435 and 3.894, which is much lower than 10.
factors, consumer related factors, factors of pricing
Therefore, multicollinearity issue does not exist.
and factors of product/service.
Independent Variable

Best price
Website preference
Best delivery options/ price
Rich assortment

Winning the online
consumers in Vietnam

Product/ service

Figure 17 Attributes Winning Online Consumer
Theoretical Framework
Research Hypotheses
Based on the above discussion, hypotheses were
developed to predict the overall relationship
between winning online consumers and some related factors.
H1: There is a relationship between best
price and winning the online consumers in Vietnam
H2: There is a relationship between website
preference and winning the online consumers in

Vietnam
H3: There is a relationship between best
delivery options/price and winning the online
consumers in Vietnam
H4: There is a relationship between rich
assortment and winning the online consumers in
Vietnam
H5: There is a relationship between
product/service and winning the online consumers
in Vietnam
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Tolerance

VIF

Best Price

.620

1.612

Website Preference

.498

2.007

Best Delivery options/price

.415

2.407

Rich Assortment

.522

1.917

Product and Service

.428

2.335

Table 1 Test of Collinearity
Factors Analysis Results on Key attributes on
winning online consumers
Reliability test was conducted to test the reliability of primary data before proceeding to factor
analysis. Table below shows the Cronbach’s alpha
values for independent variables “Best price, Website Preference, Delivery options/price, Rich
assortment, Product and Service” and dependent
variable “Winning the online shopping consumers”. All the Cronbach’s alpha values are higher
than 0.6 (Malhotra, 2004), and it may be safely
assumed that all the constructs are proven internally consistent or reliable.
Variables
Best price
Website preference
Best delivery options/ price

Rich assortment
Product/ service
Winning the online consumers in Vietnam

Alpha
0.734
0.725
0.752
0.832
0.796
0.712

Items
5
5
5
5
5
5

Conclusion
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted
Accepted


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Table 2 Cronbach’s alpha
Besides, as tested above, the Cronbach’s alpha
value of “Best Price”, “Website Preference”, “Best
Delivery Options/price”, “Rich Assortment”,
“Product and Service” are both above 0.6, which
means that they are accepted as factors of the
framework. Therefore, construct validity test on
lecturers’ development strategy indicates that these
five constructs are valid for further analysis.
Hence, multiple linear regression analysis ensues
to investigate the influence of these five constructs
on lecturer’s development strategy.
Multiple Linear Regression Between Winning Online Shopping Consumers and Its
Attributes
In Table 4.11, the adjusted R-square of multiple
correlation coefficient (adjusted R2) value indicates that 44%% of the variances associated with
Winning Online Shopping Consumers can be
explained from the 5 development characteristics.
Model

R
.664a

R Square

Adjusted R Square

0.441

0.44

Std. Error of the Estimate
0.64271

Predictors: (Constant), Best price, Website preference, Delivery options/ price, Rich
assortment, Products/ Service

ed. P-value for Best Delivery Option/ Price, Rich
Assortment, Products & Service are greater than
the common alpha level of 0.05, which indicates
that it is not statistically significant. Beta of Website Preference =0.154 which is mostly significant.

Model
(Constant)
Best price
Website preference
1
Best delivery options/ price
Rich assortment
Product/ service
a. Dependent Variable: DV5

Unstandardized
Coefficients

Standardized

Coefficients

B
1.861
.151
.205
.144
.121
.169

Std. Error Beta
.156
.075
.141
.103
.154
.116
.142
.131
.101
.121
.116

t

Sig.

11.947
2.029
1.989

2.123
1.992
2.238

.000
.043
.048
.040
.398
.045

Table 5 Coefficients
P-value for Best price, Website preference, Best
delivery option/ Price, Products/ Service < 0.05 
related
P-value for Rich assortment is greater than the
common alpha level of 0.05, which indicates that it
is not statistically significant.
Beta of Website preference = 0.154  mostly
significant
Summary of Hypotheses

Table 3 Model Summary

Through results from data analysis, the five
The output of the ANOVA analysis shows that hypotheses of this research are proved to be
there is a statistically significant difference supported. Hypotheses findings are summarized as
between the factors. We can see that the signifi- followed:
cance level is 0.000 (p = .000), which is below
No.

Hypothesis
Results
0.05. and, therefore, there is a statistically signifi1
There is a relationship between best price and winning the online
Supported
consumers in Vietnam
cant difference among the factors analyzed.
2
There is a relationship between website preference and winning the
Supported
Model
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Regression
Regression
10.907
5
2.181
5.281
1 Residual
Residual
126.813
307
.413
Total
Total
137.720

312
a. Predictors: (Constant), Best Price, Website Preference, Best Delivery Options/Price, Rich
Assortment, Product and Service
b. Dependent Variable: Winning Online Shopping Consumers

Table 4 ANOVA
Model 1 in Table 13 shows the coefficients for
the five predictors’ variables with Winning Online
Shopping Consumers as base level. The significant
value of constant (p < 0.05) indicates that there is
relationship between Winning Online Shopping
Consumers and its components. P-value for Best
Price & Website Preference < 0.05 which are relat-

3
4
5

online consumers in Vietnam
There is a relationship between best delivery options/price and
winning the online consumers in Vietnam
There is a relationship between rich assortment and winning the
online consumers in Vietnam
There is a relationship between product/service and winning the
online consumers in Vietnam

Supported
Supported
Supported

Table 6 Hypothesis Summary
Conclusions
The overall conclusion was that the five identified attributes can be parts of the Startups, Enterprises strategies on growing eCommerce in Vietnam. From this framework, policy makers,
researchers and enterprises can cooperate to develop a better environment for eCommerce market to
grow. Implication of the quantitative and qualitative theory and practice emanating from the find-

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ings were discussed in depth and implications
involving policy were speculated upon based on a
review of the literature. This research has contributed to the body of knowledge by providing a theoretical framework for proving the relationship
between winning online consumers in Vietnam and
its possible attributes.

online shopping offers better variety than traditional stores.

The study also raised questions requiring further
research that is theoretical and practical interest.
Improving and boosting eCommerce in Vietnam
will continue challenge the enterprises, governors,
managers and researchers. Therefore, this is a topic
that will continue to have and require continuous
research.

- Vietnamese consumers love shopping online
and they believe that that online shopping trend is
given and will be taking over a big part of traditional shopping. The biggest concerns are security and
trust over the websites.

Findings
Statistics and results from the analysis reveal
many things about the five factors that have influenced on winning the online consumers in Vietnam.
- Product categories that customers frequently
purchase online are household/appliances, electronics, clothing, cosmetics, toys and books.

- The fact that online consumers rely on pictures,
images, description of the website/platform to
purchase products. People also believe that detailed
description and information availability to every
product is important when shopping online.

Product price and website preference are the
most factors over winning online consumers in
Vietnamese in which trust over e-tailers, website
appearance, website user-friendliness, the ability
for customers to interact with platforms, terms and
conditions of the platforms over online purchase
transactions are all critical to win online consumers
from one platform over another, from traditional
shopping over online shopping.

There are three specific objectives in this
- Vietnamese people have had the tendency
research. Two of them have been addressed after

purchasing online.
this analysis.
- Many people agree that price is important for
- Objective number one: find out consumers
them to decide buying online and they will prefer
online shopping only if online prices are lower than perceptions over e-Commerce, Online Shopping
and their belief on the future of e-Commerce indusoffline prices.
try in Vietnam. The research results have shown
- However, price is not enough to convert people
quite clearly that e-Commerce in Vietnam is booming
from offline to online. Many people also agree that
and evolving. The rapid growth of the internet and
they must trust an e-retailer before making a
mobile usage has been helping e-Commerce to be
purchase and the ease and user-friendliness of the
established as a new shopping channel rapidly.
website will win consumers from one website over
Though Vietnamese online consumers have some
another.
- Most of the survey participants also agree that
one of the conveniences of online shopping is home
delivery which is important for consumers. Along
with this, order tracking visibility, delivery speed
and shipping fee are important for consumers and
impact consumer experience.
- Many people believe that large selection of
products is also important for consumers to decide
purchasing online. However, it does not mean that
76 SỐ 4 (2018)

concerns over online shopping, the answer to the
question whether online consumers believe in e-Commerce growth and future in Vietnam is “Yes”. They
continue purchasing online. The average revenue per
user continues increasing from US dollar 55 in 2016 to
US dollar 70.18 currently.
- Objective number two: find out five attributes of
winning online consumers in Vietnam have been identified including: best price, website preference, best
delivery options/price, rich assortment and product
and service. Of which, “website preference” is the


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most critical, even over “Best price” while “Rich
assortment” can give negative impact. Having trusted
website will always be important. Competitive pricing
is expected to rise in the importance during the selection what website to purchase. Price and promotions
most likely influence consumers’ decision on what
product or brand to buy online. Advances in technology, data technology, logistics, payment methods,
consumer demand for convenience and trust are
much higher than before. Price is important for online
consumers. However, price does not guarantee sales.
Shopping experience, keeping pace with consumers’

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tions and do not specify to a particular e-business
and may not necessarily be applicable to a particular e-business. Therefore, the future research can be
done by product group.

Practical implications

Attributes identified by this study could help
E-commerce Start-ups, International E-commerce
entering Vietnamese online market to better form
their online e-marketing strategies in terms of
geography areas, customer preference to attract
Vietnamese consumers online first, then choose
preferences today and tomorrow are important with their website over others.
all enterprises, especially e-Commerce enterprises
Recommendations
to attract and win online consumers. Beyond quick
Human resource development for e-Commerce
and good customer service, the right content strateVietnam is thirsty for e-Commerce talents.
gy is also critical. The research results have shown
According to Vietnamworks.com (ranked in the
e-Commerce Startups, new entrance, and even
171thplace among the most visited websites in
growing e-Commerce platforms that to win, they
Vietnam15), the labour demand of the internet/
need to transform and build a customer-centric and
online media category has dramatically increased
virtually borderless operating model. The facts are
in recent years. The vacancies related to e-comonline consumers easily move back and forth
merce including internet/ online media staffs hold
between online and offline, from one website to
9% of the total advertised vacancies on this webanother website to check prices before deciding the
site. Up to September 2015, Vietnam had more than
online purchase, having the efficient supply chain,
513,000 enterprises with more than 12.8 million

the lean and agile last mile operations will be
labours. According to Vecita’s 2015 survey,
important for e-Commerce enterprises. Younger
approximately 45% of enterprises had websites on
generation are increasingly comfortable with
which information was periodically updated. The
buying products online without seeing them first.
number of enterprises having websites was around
However, they also have much higher demand for
200,000. If each enterprise is estimated to have one
quick delivery, low shipping fee or even free shipe-Commerce specialized staff that may be a techniping. Companies will need to innovate in order to
cal, online sale, marketing, staff, delivery or human
have shorter delivery time, lowest last mile cost in
resource management staff; or manager…, the total
order to satisfy demanding consumer expectations
e-commerce specialized staffs could reach at least
if they would like to win online consumers. The
200,000 (Vecita, 2017). Availability of well-trained
research results have met the research objectives,
resource will be critical to boosting the growth of
helping companies to understand that providing
Vietnam e-Commerce as well as facilitating
positive and unique shopping experience is one of
employment goals. Hence adequate steps should be
the most critical motivators to win.
taken by government to ensure availability of quali- The final objective will be addressed in the ty resource for e-Commerce. Colleges, Universities
recommendation.
and Vocational School should be encouraged to
Research limitations
formulate a Training Programme, Materials, MethThe research was done based on general condi- ods, source of qualify lecturers for e-Commerce.

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Enhance Consumer Trust Toward E-Com- tion in the multi-channel environment, and large
merce
numbers of customers spend 90 percent time to
One of the key factors to grow e-Commerce browse products for a comprehensive research
share in Vietnam is to improve consumers’ trust- before purchasing. Big data can be explored in
worthiness toward e-Commerce. This require the order to facilitate the last-mile service to achieve
effort from both enterprises and government. rapid delivery. With the popularity of digital
E-tailers can pay attention to building their reputa- channels and mobile terminals, retail enterprises
tion, invest more on online or offline advertise- must deepen the layout of multiple touch points
ments, pay attention to the reviews generated by and channels, to realize interactive, personalized
consumers, which spread fast in the online environ- and socialized marketing which need a lot of
ment. E-tailers also need to invest into information innovations from data technology.
quality and security protections for consumers.
Information quality here refers to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and updates of the product
information on their websites (the products display
style, virtual design of the website, and photograph
processing…). E-tailers can select trusted and reputable payment tools, invest into data protection
which can help improve the security protection for
consumers.

Innovative Business Model to Improve Efficiency
Consumers shop online to save money. poor

logistics infrastructure and last mile networks, poor
reverse logistics, Cash on Delivery, lack of an
effective online payment mechanism, ineffective
administration and legislation leads to higher costs.
In addition, omni-channel construction, cooperation amongst leading enterprises are potential solu-

Enhance online shopping experience through tions toward last mile bottlenecks, facilitate the
data technological innovations
optimization and upgrade of the whole supply
More and more innovative technologies should
be applied in order to enhance customer experience, e.g. integrate virtual information into the real
world to generate more comprehensive experience
through integration of virtual information and reality. According to Deloitte’s 2015 Global Mobile
Consumer Survey, China Edition, almost all
awakened mobile consumers across the world
check their phones at least once in three hours,
while in emerging markets 93 percent awakened
consumers check their phones in one hour or
less, and people in the Asia Pacific region are
most addictive to smartphone. Socialized online
shopping is a critical trend drive users’ final
purchase if enterprises can integrate functions
such as socializing, payment and shopping. Consumers can know product information more
quickly
through
various
devices
(e.g.
cell-phones, tablets, PCs) and Internet platforms
(e.g. search engines). Consumers continue to

spend more time on obtaining product informa78 SỐ 4 (2018)

chain. From the enterprise perspective, investments
into own delivery and payment capabilities can be
considered in order to meet the growing demand as
well as improve the efficiency, raising customer
experience into e-Commerce. From policy maker
perspective, legislation for e-Commerce should be
put in place so that enterprises are more confident
into investing and pushing the industry growth.
Logistics infrastructure such as freighters between
Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, road conditions, port
condition…need improvement to bring down total
logistics cost.
Cross border e-Commerce
Retail sales of import e-commerce still accounted for a relatively small proportion in the online
retail market in Vietnam. There is a huge potential
for the development of import e-commerce retail
business given the trends. This need the support
from government in terms of policies, tax tariff,


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customer formality process, legislation such as 2016. Deloitte.
permits, licences, logistics infrastructure. From

6. Chung‐Hoon Park et al. (2003). Identifying
enterprise perspective, cross border supply chain key factors affecting consumer purchase behavior
management and operation model need to be trans- in an online shopping context.
formed and make it more efficiency.

7. Constantinides, E. (2004). Influencing the
Investment boosts the development of innova- online consumer’s behavior: the Web experience.
8. Dardy, A. (2017). Vietnam E-Commerce,
tive business
Need For Speed.
e-Commerce industry is finance intensive. A
9. Dohert, N. F. ( 2010). Internet retailing: the
great financial pressure to local enterprises in order
past, the present and the future.
to compete with international players. Financing
10. Eleonora et al. (2014). The impact of
raising, M&A have become an essential stage for e-Commerce on final deliveries: alternative parcel
the transformation of traditional retailing enterpris- delivery services in France and Germany.
es and as well as local e-tailers. This will need a
11. Enrico e al. (2012). E-commerce: exploring
strong support from government from both policy the critical success factors.
as well as support.

12. Fei Liu et al. (2017). The art of appeal in
electronic commerce: Understanding the impact of
product and website quality on online purchases.

REFERENCES
1. al., G. e. (2015). Consumer Behavior
13. (2017). Global E-Commerce Report 2017.

towards online shopping of Smart Phones in Male- E-Commerce Foundation.
gaon City.
14. Jano et al. (2017). Destination website
2. al., Ž. e. (2015). E-Commerce Factors quality, users’ attitudes and the willingness to
Influencing Consumers' Online Shopping Decision. participate in online co-creation experiences.
15. Jin-Feng Wu et al. (2015). Multichannel
3. Anh, L. M. (2017). E-Commerce-Market
integration quality, online perceived value and
Potential in Vietnam. Smartosc.
online purchase intention: A perspective of
4. Anil Bilgihan et al. (2015). Towards a land-based retailers.
unified customer experience in online shopping
16. KPMG. (2017). The Truth About Online
environments: Antecedents and outcomes.
Consumers. KPMG.
5.

(2016). China E-Retail Market Report

17. (2017). Last mile delivery: A pain point of
online shopping. Fung Business Intelligence.
18. Lin Xiao et al. (2016). Building loyalty in
e-commerce: Towards a multidimensional
trust-based framework for the case of China.

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PROMOTION OF PHARMACEUTICAL E-TENDER IN
PUBLIC HOSPITAL IN VIETNAM
XÚC TIẾN ĐẤU THẦU DƯỢC PHẨM ĐIỆN TỬ
TẠI BỆNH VIỆN CÔNG Ở VIỆT NAM
PHAN VAN DINH *
NGUYEN THI LE VAN AND NGUYEN DUC BAO LONG **

Tóm tắt
Một số cơ quan khu vực công trên toàn thế giới đã xác định Mua sắm điện tử (e-Procurement) như là
một chương trình nghị sự điện tử ưu tiên và đã thực hiện hoặc đang trong quá trình triển khai các hệ
thống Mua sắm điện tử bên mua. Đấu thầu điện tử phải dành cho các sản phẩm dược phẩm cung cấp cho
các bệnh viện ở Việt Nam vì nó giúp cắt giảm chi phí, tiết kiệm thời gian cho việc mua sắm cũng như
nguồn nhân lực cho các hoạt động mua sắm. Hiện tại, đấu thầu được sử dụng phổ biến nhất là đấu thầu
giấy, trong đó có nhiều vấn đề về lãng phí thời gian và thiếu tính minh bạch,... Đấu thầu điện tử là một
thuật ngữ khá mới ở Việt Nam và chỉ được sử dụng ở các thành phố lớn của Việt Nam như thành phố Hồ
Chí Minh, Hà Nội hoặc Đà Nẵng. Để thúc đẩy việc áp dụng đấu thầu điện tử trong ngành dược ở các tỉnh
khác của Việt Nam, còn cần nghiên cứu kỹ về tiềm năng ứng dụng và các yếu tố ảnh hưởng của nó. Các
mục tiêu tổng thể chính của bài báo này chỉ để thăm dò về các vấn đề mua sắm điện tử trong khu vực
công; nhằm mục đích phát triển một khuôn khổ khái niệm hỗ trợ trong việc xác định các yếu tố thành công
quan trọng cho việc áp dụng và thực hiện mua sắm điện tử trong khu vực công; và kích thích cuộc tranh
luận về các CSF mua sắm điện tử và các biện pháp liên quan để thành công. Qua khảo sát và xem xét tài
liệu, nghiên cứu này đã xác định được mối quan hệ giữa việc thúc đẩy đấu thầu dược phẩm ở Tây Bắc
Việt Nam với các yếu tố bao gồm minh bạch, cạnh tranh, bình đẳng, đấu thầu và tham gia quốc tế.
Từ khóa: Đấu thầu điện tử, đấu thầu điện tử dược phẩm trong bệnh viện công tại Việt Nam.
Summary
A number of public sector agencies worldwide have identified Electronic Procurement (e-Procurement) as a priority e-Government agenda and have implemented or are in the process of implementing
buy-side e-Procurement systems. E-tender is must have for pharmaceutical products supply for hospitals

in Vietnam as it helps cut the cost, save time for procurement as well as human resources for procurement
activities. At the moment, the most commonly style tender is paper in tender which contains itself many
problems about wasting of time, lack of transparency etc. E-tender is a quite new term in Vietnam and it
is used only in big cities of Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or Da Nang. To promote the application of e-tender in pharmaceutical industry in other provinces of Vietnam, it is necessary to have a thorough research on its potential of application and influencing factors. The main overall objectives of the
paper are to gain an exploratory understanding of e-Procurement issues in the public sector; to develop
a conceptual framework that aids in identification of critical success factors for adopting and implementing e-Procurement in the public sector; and to stimulate debate about the e-Procurement CSFs and the
associated measures for success. Through a survey and the literature review, this research identify the
relationships between the promoting of pharmaceutical e-tender in the North West of Vietnam with factors
including transparency, competitiveness, equality, tender fee and international participation
Keywords: Pharmaceutical E-Tender, E-Tender, Pharmaceutical E-Tender in Public Hospital in
Vietnam.
* Ali Limited, Ha Noi, Vietnam
** Dong Do University, Vietnam
Ngày nhận bài: 4/5/2018; ngày thẩm định 15/7/2018; ngày duyệt đăng: 15/9/2018
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Introduction
In people’s health care and protection in general
and the implementation of health insurance policies
in particular in Vietnam, medicines play a very
important role. Like many developing countries,
the costs of medicines in Vietnam take over a major
proportion of total medical costs. According to the
National Health Accounts 2008, the amount spent
on drugs has nearly doubled from 2000 to 2007,
accounting for about 40% of total medical costs
society.

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China and India are two biggest exporters of
pharmaceutical materials into Vietnam, accounting
for 25% and 21% respectively in 2008. As Vietnamese companies at present are mainly producing
common drugs, they are using many types of cheap
pharmaceutical materials imported from the two
countries.
The pharmaceutical industry gets access to
consumers through treatment distribution system
and commercial distribution network.

Treatment distribution network. The treatment
Statistics of the Vietnam Social Insurance recently network includes hospitals and other treatment
showed medicine costs are a high proportion units of different levels. The total number of medi(60-70%) of total health care costs health insurance.
cal examination and treatment units in Vietnam in
Drug market in Vietnam is very diverse and rich 2007 was 13,438. Almost all pharmaceutical comin both quantity and quality. In 2009, out of 22,615 panies wish to promote this distribution channel
drug registration numbers which were valid, there because of its large consumption quantity.
were 10,692 and 11,923 domestic pharmaceutical
The biggest consumption channel of medicine in
drugs imported from abroad. Domestic production Vietnam for treatment products is public hospitals.
value increased from U.S. $ 111.4 million in 1996 Pharmaceutical products are provided to hospital
to U.S. $ 919 million in 2010. Drug products through tender. Additionally, selling through hospiproduced in the country was increasingly high tals occupies a high amount of working capital of
proportion of the total value of drug consumption, pharmaceutical companies because hospitals
up from 26% in 1996 to over 48% in 2010.
normally settle payment at the end of the year.
Drugs are increasingly produced in the country
Commercial distribution network. The commerto meet the treatment needs, in 1996, drug produc- cial network includes branches, agents, distributors

tion in the country only has about 3,400 drug names and drugstores. At present, domestic pharmaceutiwith less than 200 active, but now there are about cal companies are trying their best to promote the
500 active substances of 1,500 active ingredients in commercial distribution channel in order to reduce
the drug is registered domestic proportion.
the dependence on the treatment distribution
The supply of medicines to hospitals must be network which is facing intense competition. This
through bidding based on the current regulations. distribution network mainly consists of domestic
However, practice has shown that there are some distributors meanwhile there are only three foreign
shortcomings issues in the drug supply for patients distributors in the market, including Zeullig
in general and patients with health insurance in Pharma, Diethelm and Megaproduct.
particular. Traditional tender mechanism is not
In this research, the researcher focuses on the
effective, it is necessary to adjust and strengthen supply of pharmaceutical products to public hospithe implementation of the tendering process at tals through pharmaceutical tender. With an aim to
hospitals and get drug prices more reasonable.
promote the application of e-tender in pharmaceutiThe application of electronic tender for the cal sector, the researcher has conducts the research
purchase and sale of drugs in public hospitals is in the context of the North Western.
inevitable and important to improve the quality and
The supply of pharmaceutical products in public
effectiveness of procurement as well as improve the hospitals in the North Western reflects many genershortcomings that traditional procurement face.
al characteristics of Vietnam pharmaceutical supply
Due to weaknesses of chemical, 90% of the regulations such as medicine is supplied through
materials for production of western drugs are tender. At each province, the Department of Health
imported. The main types of imported pharmaceuti- will develop the tender plan annually or for every 6
cal materials are antibiotics and vitamins, which months (medicines are bought according to the list
of essential medicines). The budget for this tender
account for more than 80% of the import value.
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comes from (1) national budget, (2) health insurance, and (3) hospital revenue. Pharmaceutical
suppliers are those who have capabilities, experiences and conditions to take part in the tender. The
tender is valid in 1 year.
However, this tender carries in itself many problems including:
Information of tender is public only on “Tender
Magazine”, a quite unpopular magazine that not
many people follow which make many tenders
unaware of the tenders.
Tender documents are sold only at tender owner’s office which is sometimes a geographic challenge to many bidders.
Some staff members of the tender owner are
sometimes even do not want to sell too many tender
documents to avoid evaluating to many bidders’
documents.
Time for preparing and submitting tender documents is too short while most of the provinces in the
North Western are quite far from central areas. This
makes many bidders unable to participate in tender.
The tender evaluation scale reflects some
unfair criteria.
The traditional tender costs time, effort and
money a lot.

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revealed there was a cost, in both time and money,
to print scale drawings. Additionally, it was established that some members did not have adequate IT
and there was a lack of a filing index.
More relevant to eTendering is the paper by
Eadie et al., (2007). Their literature review and
survey suggest that there were eleven marked barriers to the eTendering process being undertaken in

Northern Ireland. These barriers were: the legal
position of e-procurement, company culture, upper
management support, IT infrastructure, IT systems
too costly, lack of technical expertise, lack of e-procurement knowledge / skilled personnel, lack of
business relationship with suppliers providing
e-procurement, security of transactions, interoperability concerns, no business benefit realised.
Transparency problems
Also, “trust” is an overused word when discussing procurement. According to Kashiwagi, “Trust
and rules of encouragement are not enough. Transparency is what is needed. When there is only trust,
risk goes up”. When there is transparency everyone
knows what is going on and can address issues in a
timely manner, reducing risk and liability. Then
“trust” is not necessary anymore. The job of the
contractor is to “educate the client” and “the client
must learn to let go of the controls”. This, he says,
requires a “paradigm shift” in the process.

Research Problems
Of course such a shift does not happen overParticular Problems to be addressed within
night.
And when listening to the issues confronting
Traditional Tendering
Hughes (2003) highlighted the substantial cost Peter Lundhus with the Fehmarnbelt Link project,
that is involved in tendering finding that the cost to the question becomes how do you overcome the
contractors of tendering was approximately 1.17% obstacles that hinder communication and cooperaof the value of the work. When considered against tive, pro-active contractor contributions? For the
a success ratio of, say, one in five, Hughes reported Fehmarnbelt Link, a State Treaty between Denthat the cost of each winning bid can be as much as mark and Germany was signed in 2006 with the
6% of the value of the work. In addition, the cost of intention to build starting in 2008 with completion
tendering was considered to be very expensive by scheduled for 2020. The first issue confronting the
93% of respondents to an eTendering survey Fehmarnbelt group was determining whether a
bridge or tunnel would be the most reasonable

carried out by CITA in 2006.
connection between northern Germany and southBarriers to application of e-tender
ern Denmark.
Martin (2003) found during his UK survey that Procurement of Medicine in Public Hospitals in
project collaboration technologies had a number of Viet Nam
advantages, some of which were discussed in the
In medicine management, the State issued reguabove paragraphs, and disadvantages. As discussed lations to ensure public medicines are procured
earlier, the advantages of such a system includes efficiently and patients are provided with good and
items, such as, increased transparency, speed of cheap medicines. The inter-ministerial Circular No
information transfer and increased accessibility. On 10/2007/TTLT-BYT-BTC dated 10/8/2007 of the
the negative side, Martin found that individuals Ministry of Health – Ministry of Finance provided
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guidelines on 3 forms of procurement including:Concentrated procurement (form 1). With this
form, the Ministry of Health will organize the
concentrated procurement of medicines of frequent
demand and big quantity for all local public health
units. The list of procured medicines will be
consolidated based on the demand of local public
health care centers. The procurement of medicines
will be conducted directly between public health
care units and selected medicine providers.

The variables for study included demographic

variables, respondent profile. The study had independent variables (transparency, competitiveness,
equality, procurement fees and international participants) and a dependent variable (pharmaceutical
e-tender).The quantitative study was applied to 250
valid companies. The Cronbach’s Alpha ( ) was
used to test the reliability of the research variables.
The results of the Cronbach’s Alpha ( ) are all over
0.9 for all variables as below:

Representative procurement (form 2): Under
this form, Departments of Health shall assign one
or some health care units to organize the representative procurement (usually the provincial hospital
and one district hospital. Traditional medicines will
be procured by the provincial traditional hospital.
Other public health care units will use the procurement results for their buying of medicines. Applying this form, medicine prices will be fixed consistently throughout the province but the portfolio of
medicines of other hospitals will depend on the list
of procured medicines. Selected medicine providers will provide medicines for hospitals directly or
through an authorized providers.

Reliability Statistics

Independently procurement (Form 3): With this
form, public hospitals will conduct the procurement of medicines by themselves. The list of
procured medicines will be developed based on the
need of each hospital. Selected prices of medicines
may not be consistent among hospitals. This form
is usually applied in central hospitals.
Research Methodology
The target population was 250 medicine traders
in Vietnam provided by Ministry of Health of Vietnam. The target response ratio was determined
based on the distribution of the respondents based

on their geographic allocation. The sample list was
compiled by a randomized selection of the respondents in each province to meet the expected response
ratio. In cases in which a response could not be
reasonably be obtained from a company in the
sample list, a substitute was included being the next
firm on the list.
The scope of interviews was based on variables
of the research framework, covering transparency,
competitiveness, equality, procurement fees and
international participants. Therefore the respondents needed to understand and have the authority to
provide the necessary data; therefore, the respondents should be directors of these companies.

Variable No.

Variable Name

Variable 1

Transparency

No. of item Cronbach’s Alpha
5 items

0.943

Variable 2

Competitiveness

5 items

0.999

Variable 3

Equality

5 items

0.912

Variable 4

Procurement fees

5 items

0.927

Variable 5

International participants

5 items

0.911

Variables
There are five independent variables for this
research study, critically selected from the literature

review as factors important in the influencing
relationships, and one dependent variable.
Transparency
Transparency in the context of public procurement is considered one of the most effective deterrents to corruption. It is a precondition for ensuring
public officials’ accountability. Effective and
efficient procurement activities require the setting
up of instruments of transparency. The instruments
should build and maintain confidence and participation of both suppliers/contactors and the general
public. Transparency in public procurement transactions involves: transparency of procurement
opportunities and that of contract evaluation and
award procedures. To measure effectiveness simply
means comparing goals and results. Among the
various goals of the Public Healthcare Boards
procurement areas, it is important the need to
achieve good purchasing prices, while granting the
respect of qualitative standards. Average discount
on the reserve price is a good proxy to evaluate
eprocurement impact on this dimension, given that
e-tenders should at least grant compliance with
qualitative standards. E-procurement should allow
increased discounts, because larger markets are
made accessible and it should be easy to use
advanced instruments for the negotiations, such as
e-auctions.
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Competitiveness
Competitiveness is an analysis dimension that
generally seems more suitable to private companies
than Public Boards. Yet, public organizations can
stimulate the highest levels of market competition.

.LQKQJKLÇP7KâFWLÆQ

ed criteria’ is used by Ruth Nielsen (2005) as a
general term covering all those criteria (nationality,
sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion, age, etc) with
regard to which there are legal protection against
(some kinds of) discrimination. Equality problems
in a procurement context may also arise from lacks
in the implementation of mainstreaming duties
incumbent upon the contracting authority. Equality
problems may further arise from equality failures in
society at large.

Moreover, a procurement unit could be competing with other Public Boards, promoting the mutual
achievement of operational excellence. High level
of suppliers’ participation in tendering procedures
and the use of e-auctions are considered good comAyres’ study of retail car negotiations suggests
petitiveness indexes. Also, strategic activities such
that
men and women do not obtain similar contracts
as reserve price definition and scouting of the markets are relevant to pinpoint how a Public Board when buying in the private sector in situations
where the price is not definitively fixed.
promotes competitiveness.
Procurement fee

The relevance of effective competition in
procurement environments can hardly be overemphasized. Without effective competition—and
regardless of how well designed and applied
procurement rules are— the public buyer will
hardly obtain value for money (OFT/ econ, 2004),
there will be an unavoidable waste of public
resources due the inefficiency of the system (OFT,
2010), and there is a significant risk of consolidating or even aggravating non-competitive or plainly
anti-competitive market structures (European
Commission, 2011a). Indeed, in order to attain
value for money and to work as a proper tool for the
public sector, public procurement activities need to
take place in thriving, competitive markets (Kettl,
1993; Cox, 1993; Schooner, 1999; Cooper, 2003;
Brunk, 2006; and Anderson & Kovacic, 2009). This
is consistent with the majority scholar view, which
clearly supports that competition has always been
an essential element in the construction of public
procurement systems and, together with non-discrimination and transparency, ranks (or should
rank) amongst the top goals of every procurement
system (Kelman, 1990; Arrowsmith et al, 2000;
Schooner, 2001 & 2002; Trepte, 2004; Weiss &
Kalogeras, 2005; Perlman, 2007; Schooner et al,
2008; Schiavo-Campo & Mcferson, 2008; Dekel,
2008; Sánchez Graells, 2010).
Fair Play/ Equality
Equality problems in a procurement context may
arise from equality failures in the procurement
practice of the contracting authority, eg direct or
indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality,

sex, race, etc in the contracting authority’s conduct
of procurement processes. The expression ‘protect84 SỐ 4 (2018)

Procurement fee is an issue in procurement.
Many bidders can be discouraged by the fee of
some tender. To enhance the procurement, the fee
must be reasonable and selective to create a healthy
tender. In e-tender, fee is an issue from which, the
tender environment can be improved.
International participation
The participation of international bidders will
increase when e-tender is implemented. With this
participation the tender will be more competitive,
more transparent and the tender quality will be
increased. E-tender is an urgent solution for hospitals to improve their quality of tender and reduce
time and cost for tender.
Pharmaceutical E-tender
The dependent variable for this research is pharmaceutical e-tender. This is a totally new definition
in Vietnam especially in Northern hospitals of Vietnam.
In this study pharmaceutical e-tender is defined
as tendering for pharmaceutical products through
electronic systems.
Research Framework

The development of a research framework is
arguably the most important part of any research
(Veal 2005). Therefore this chapter presents a
conceptual framework for this study and framework of variables. The aim of the research study
was to determine the relationships that exist
between five core cooperative factors identified in

the literature review and the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender.


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Levels of e-procurement adoption
Research Framework
This research framework began innitially Level of e-tendering adoption
Percent of total survey respondents
Already
procuring
online
21%
through the study of several research on e-tender,
63%
especially in pharmaceutical industry. The Intend to procure online within the next 1-2 years
No intention to procure online
16%
researcher then created a framework for the case in
Northern of Vietnam.
Medium to large size organisations constitute
Research Hypotheses
the majority of those who have adopted, or intend
From the above research framework, hypotheses to adopt e-procurement in the next 1-2 years. This
of the study are established to test the relationships finding supports those of other surveys which
between influencing factors and e-tender in phar- suggest that the “likelihood of placing orders via
maceutical industry.

the Internet increases with the employment size of
Ha: There is a relationship between transparency businesses” (ABS 2006).
and pharmaceutical e-tender.
Hb: There is a relationship between competitiveness and pharmaceutical e-tender.
Hc: There is a relationship between equality and
pharmaceutical e-tender.
Hd: There is a relationship between procurement
fee and pharmaceutical e-tender.
He: There is a relationship between international
participation and pharmaceutical e-tender.
Analysis of Data
All respondents that agreed to participate gave
full and open responses. They understood that data
collected were to increase the promotion of e-tender in the public procurement context and appeared
honest and sincere in their answers. The participants in their discussions with the researcher were,
similar to participants in the Hawthorne experiment
(Daft, 1997, p. 48), motivated by the interest in
their opinions and reflected that all the factors they
support to research will be able to improve if they
are well researched and addressed.
E-tendering adoption
Survey respondents reported on the current level
of adoption and future intentions to adopt eprocurement in their organisations. The findings, set out in
Table below, indicate that 41% of respondents
already procure online, a further 43% expect to
initiate online procurement within the next one to
two years, 16% have no plans to adopt e-procurement.

No-intention to adopt e-procurement
The most common reasons provided by organisations that have no current plans to implement

eprocurement are the high costs of implementation; the size of the organisation (some organisations believed they were too small to benefit from
e-procurement); lack of management support and
the complexity surrounding the nature and diversity of products and services to be procured.
Strategic Importance of e-tender
Some respondents who have implemented
e-procurement were asked whether e-tender is the
strategic important issue in their organisation. 74%
of organisations that are already procuring online
agreed to strongly agreed on the importance of
e-procurement. This finding is consistent with
other studies that point to the increasingly strategic
role of e-procurement (Laub 2001, Knudsen 2002).
Strategic importance of e-procurement
Strategic importance of e-procurement

Percent

Extremely important

24%

Important

50%

Neither important nor unimportant

17%

Unimportant

3%

Extremely unimportant

6%

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Multiple Linear Regression between pharma- tive relationship between transparency, competitiveness, equality, tender fees and international
ceutical e-tender and factors
One model has been chosen for its suitability for participation and the promotion of pharmaceutical
the regression. From the table below we can see e-tender.
that Model 1 of five factors can be used for the Summary of Hypotheses Findings
explanation of the relationship with pharmaceutical Hypotheses Summary
e-tender.
No
Hypothesis

Results

In Table below, the adjusted R-square of multiis a relationship between the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender and
Supported
ple correlation coefficient (adjusted R2) value indi- 2 There

competitiveness
is a relationship between the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender and
Supported
cates that 74.6% of the variances associated with 3 There
equality
is a relationship between the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender and
Supported
pharmaceutical e-tender promotion can be 4 There
tender fee
5
There is a relationship between the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender and
Supported
explained from the 5 variables. The F-statistics is
international participation
also significant (F = 67.043) which confirms that
all the 5 variables collectively make a significant Research Limitations
The most obvious limitation of the study is its
contribution to the fitness of the regression model
and are statistically significant in explaining the cross-sectional design. Therefore, hospital conclusions about the directions of causality implied in
variance of e-tender promotion.
the relationships cannot be drawn. Thus, relationModel Summary b
ships among variables must be interpreted with
Change Statistics
caution. True causal inferences can only be drawn
Model
R
R Square
Adjusted R Std. Error of the R Square
Square
Estimate

Change
F Change Sig. F Change
using longitudinal data. This is especially impor.865
1
.63987927
.000
.748
.746
.746
67.043
tant for a subject like technological application that
a. Predictors: (Constant), IV5, IV4, IV3, IV2, IV1
is not static but is a developmental process that
b. Dependent Variable: DV
changes over time.
1

There is a relationship between the promotion of pharmaceutical e-tender and
transparency

Supported

a

Model 1 in Table below shows the coefficients
for the five predictors’ variables with the promotion
of pharmaceutical e-tender as base level. The
significant value of constant (p < 0.05) indicates
that there is relationship between the promotion of
pharmaceutical e-tender and transparency

(p<0.05), competitiveness, equality, tender fees and
international participation.
Coefficients
Unstandardized
Coefficients

Model

B
1

Standardized
Coefficients

Std. Error

(Constant)

.003

.042

Transparency

.445

.042

Competitiveness

.347

.042

Quality

.347

Tender fee
International
participation

Beta

t

Sig.

.069

.945

.444

10.494

.000

.347

8.199

.000

.042

.346

8.182

.000

.300

.042

.299

7.075

.000

.271

.042

.271

6.394

.000

a. Dependent Variable: REGR DV1

Since only self-report measures were used, common-method variance and response consistency
effects may have biased the observed relationships.
However, perceptions of usefulness and ease of use
are not objective measures. Because perceptions
are necessarily self-reported, such measures are the
most effective at measuring these cognitions.
Therefore, this is an unavoidable criticism of the
study applying new technologies.
The data collection was confined to only six
relatively provinces in the North Western since
constraints were faced during data collection. The
replication of the study at different regions of Vietnam would enable better generalizability of the
findings of the study. At the same time data collection during real e-tendering experiences could have
elicited better responses improving findings.

The sample for the present study comprised of
Through this multiple linear regression, the
230 managers and officials of public hospitals,
formulation is:
non-public hospitals, pharmaceutical companies
AVG C = 0.003 + 0.445 B1 + 0.347 B2 + 0.347 and governmental agencies. This sample is only a
B3 + 0.300 B4 + 0.271 B5
very small proportion of the entire population of
The formula is significant at the sig. <0.05. It hospitals in the country. Therefore, research studies
can be concluded that there is significant positive with much larger sample size would be required to
relationships between IV1, IV2, IV3, IV4, IV5 and ensure appropriate generalization of the findings of

DV, or it can be said that there is significant posi- the study.
86 SỐ 4 (2018)


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The present study has relied largely on quantitative methodology of data collection (though qualitative methodology was used to a limited extent)
and is therefore restrictive. Therefore, more of
qualitative methodology of data collection should
be undertaken in future to provide wider perspective to the present study. For instance, the research
design can employ case study methodology or
content analysis to provide a holistic picture to the
given subject.
Future Research
Research into the relative importance of
economic and political rationality in the adoption
of new models of procurement can be advanced by
considering the presence of alternatives and legal
enforcement. The adoption of new model of
procurement is also dependent on available alternatives. Future research should undertake a more
thorough analysis of e-procurement adoption
patterns where alternatives to new models are
included in the analysis. In addition, how legal
enforcement impacts adoption patterns is an issue
future research should pursue. For example, in
Vietnam electronic invoices have recently been
legally enforced on public institutions. This may
constitute a new ratio decidendi for adoption of
e-procurement, which might also increase the
relative importance of adoption factors associated

with economic rationality. By contrast, the present
analysis is based on a situation where adoption of
e-procurement is based on softlaw policy documents. To what extent legal enforcement tilts the
balance from political-structural factors explaining
adoption rates towards economic factors, is a
matter that future empirical research could beneficially address.
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SỐ 4 (2018) 87


TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ ĐÔNG ĐÔ
( Dong Do Journal of Science and Technology )
THỂ LỆ VIẾT VÀ GỬI BÀI ĐĂNG TẠP CHÍ
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Việt hoặc tiếng Anh (khuyến khích viết bằng tiếng Anh) soạn trên máy vi tính,
cách dòng đơn, font chữ Times New Roman, cỡ chữ 12, trên giấy khổ A4. Độ dài
bài viết từ 8 - 12 trang,
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Tầng 5, tòa nhà 60B Nguyễn Huy Tưởng, Thanh Xuân, Hà Nội.
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