The Significance of Mobile E-Commerce in Customer Retention in Vietnam

By (Name)

Professor

University

City/State

Date

Abstract

This paper will investigate the significance of mobile e-commerce in customer retention in Vietnam. This research is essential since its findings will be essential in different Vietnamese business platforms, notably, m-commerce enterprises. In Vietnam, majority of enterprises that utilize e-commerce purpose on serving as many end-users as possible; however, there is no serious thought of approaches of fostering loyalty and retaining the existing client base. This research aims to evaluate the role of mobile e-commerce in enhancing customers' loyalty and retention in Vietnam to gain a competitive advantage. The paper will address this topic phenomenon by determining how buyer’s convenience, price advantage, effective communication, and digitizing business operations influence end-users’ loyalty and retention. The study will use a descriptive research design because of its inclusiveness in addressing al-rounded questions regarding the study problem. The paper will apply purposive sampling procedures to select a number that will represent the m-commerce shoppers in Vietnam. The researcher will circulate questionnaires through online platforms to collect data from selected respondents. Data processing will involve decoding answers from the questionnaires into a tabulated form that the author will manipulate to produce relevant statistics. The researcher will code, edit, enter, and monitor the data processing procedure; subsequently, using SPSS to analyze it.

Key Words: e-commerce; m-commerce; consumer retention; customer loyalty; price advantage; buyer’s convenience.

1.0 Background of the Study

Marketing dynamics across the globe have changed significantly, necessitating firms to find innovative ways of attracting, serving, and retaining customers. One of these emerging ways of doing business entails the use of e-commerce. Other than creating a network of customers, e-commerce facilitates business by reducing the cost of operation through speeding up activities, managing customers' information, as well as linking a retailer with the outside world of the outbound supply chain. Research shows that “e-commerce is one of the most innovative expansions of the technologies that enable small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) access to global communication and trade” (Nguyen & Thai-Binh 2018, p. 1). Now more than ever, almost all multinational and local businesses have adopted the use of mobile e-commerce as a way of gaining a competitive edge; however, for a sector to gain these aspirations, a clear understand of the significance of mobile e-commerce toward improving the rate of customer loyalty and retention is paramount.

Vietnam is located in the Indochinese peninsula and is among the Southeast Asia region. For the last decade, regions bordering Vietnam, such as China to the North, Cambodia, and Laos, have economically grown; this does not mean Vietnam has been left behind. Research by Phong et al. (2018) indicates that Vietnam's growth in internet use has gone up from 20% to 67.1% for the last 6 years. In the production sector, the country has also experienced a remarkable increase in output, which has translated into an overall growth in Gross Domestic Product. The interlink between the growth of industrial operations and the increased use of the internet has created a significant opportunity for the retail industry. One of the ways through which ecommerce has been enhanced is via the establishment and commercialization of business solutions and platforms such as e-commerce and m-commerce (Phong et al., 2018).

1.1 Justification of the Study

According to Weng-Onn & Soon (2016), mobile commerce is one of the most rapidly growing technologies in all parts of the world. Technological advancement has also enhanced the use of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets (Phong et al., 2018). For this reason, this study will be focused on investigating the use of mobile commerce (m-commerce) in Vietnam. The growth of mobile communication technology, as noted by Nguyen and Thai-Binh (2018), is one of the main reasons why most of the marketing strategies are customized to meet the needs of the population that uses phones for long hours. The millennials in Vietnam use phones...