Poor logistics services hamper e-commerce development Experts believe that the high cost of logistics services is slowing down the growth of online shopping.   Lai Viet Anh, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MOIT) E-commerce and Information Technology, said e-commerce growth rate in Asia Pacific is very high. It is estimated that the region makes up 51.5 percent of the total online transaction value around the world.  Vietnam has had annual growth rate of 30 percent. A recent survey conducted by Bizweb, an online sales platform, found that more than 40 percent of polled consumers said the selling prices of goods available on e-commerce websites are higher than prices at markets. Analysts believe that the high cost of logistics services makes online shopping less competitive compared with direct shopping. In many cases, the prices of goods at online shops during sale promotions are even higher than the ordinary prices of goods at traditional markets, if counting the shipping fee. Experts believe that the high cost of logistics services is slowing down the growth of online shopping. A customer in Can Tho City, for example, ordering goods online, will have to pay a minimum of VND30,000 for the shipping fee to carry goods from HCM City to Can Tho.  In e-commerce, logistics services are understood as fulfillment services, which includes packing, shipping, money collection and post-sale customer care.  A World Bank  (WB) report showed that in 2015, the expenses for logistics services accounted for 20.9 percent of GDP. Vietnam was among the countries with the highest logistics cost. Meanwhile, recent surveys by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) showed that the logistics cost in Vietnam accounts for 20-25 percent of GDP, of which the transportation cost amounts to 60 percent.  This is to the 30 percent of ‘empty’ vehicles not carrying goods on roads. Roads remain the major means of transport which handle 80 percent of transported goods. Experts also cited other problems in Vietnam’s e-commerce, such as poor facilities, lack of professionalism, low technology application in transportation, long shipping time, undiversified modes of payment and high shipping fees. To change people’s shopping habits, analysts say, it is necessary to remove the logistics barriers that hamper the development of e-commerce by encouraging the establishment of logistics service providers which specifically serve e-commerce, and build goods transshipment centers. The shipping alliances in localities are a reasonable model that could help change the face of the logistics industry. Nam Lich, VNN