I did and waited for the postman for the whole July, but he didn't show up. The book never passed customs as I've later learned. So I emailed Amazon's customer service on the first day of August. Three days later, another copy of my book was on an expedited airmail to Vietnam.

I got my book last Friday, without having to care a bit about getting refund for the lost copy, place another order or pay for the second shipment.

In fact, Vietnamese Visa card holders completed 34,000 electronic transactions totaling US$5.8 million from June 2004 to June 2005, said the payment company. The shopping was all done with online stores outside Vietnam.

More customer-focused

It's not that Vietnam doesn't have any e-commerce website. On the contrary, businesses are on the race to launch online shops, auction houses or create virtual malls.