Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)Vietnam is among countries with the world’s fastestgrowing e-commerce, said Lai Viet Anh, deputy director of the Vietname-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (IDEA). Last year, local e-commercerevenue grew 18 percent to reach 11.8 billion USD, accounting for 5.5 percentof total retail sales of consumer goods and services nationwide.
Given that global B2C e-commerce turnover is expected tohit over 2.88 trillion USD in 2023, cross-border e-commerce will be a veryeffective channel for enterprises to expand markets, she said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been having adverse impacts ontraditional in-person trade, said Tran Quoc Toan, Director of Co Do Co., Ltd.,a producer of Vietnamese handicrafts which has exported its products to 50countries and territories. His company has been displaying products on theworld’s largest online marketplace Amazon in a hope of reaching more foreigncustomers.
Using Amazon, Co Do expects to sell its handicraftproducts directly to end users, Toan said.
Another handicraft manufacturer, Vinescraft Co., Ltd.,used to access overseas markets via a network of importers, distributioncentres, shops and sellers. The Hanoi-based company started selling products onAmazon five years ago, said Director Tran Duc Chung, adding that it took himtwo years to explore American taste and learn how to make use of the e-commercewebsite.
Vinescraft now receives around 300 – 500 orders, worth 19– 40 USD each, every day, Chung said.
Any digital platform has its own pros and cons, so themost important thing is to find the compatibility between a producer and thecross-border online marketplace it uses in order to boost sales, he shared.Firms must also quickly adapt to changes in customers’ needs and the website’spolicies to be able to succeed, he added.
According to data from Amazon Global Selling Vietnam,total sales of Vietnamese sellers on Amazon exceeded 1 million USD mark in2020, tripling 2019’s figure.
Vietnamese enterprises should further accelerate digitaltransformation, look towards sustainable development and diversify distributionchannels, Gijae Seong, Vietnam Country Manager for Amazon Global Selling, said.They also need to be adaptive to consumers’ changing needs and optimizeproducts and services based on customers’ reviews.
The pandemic has created tremendous pressure for changeand new ways of doing business for firms, even small ones, Anh said,emphasizing the need for support from major e-commerce platforms that operateon a global scale.
Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and TradeTran Phuong Lan said the capital city plans to organize an exclusive event ontrading on Amazon for local handicraft products and craft villages in thecoming time, as part of an effort to stimulate cross-border e-commerce.
The department will also hold a number of seminars andtraining courses for small- and medium-enterprises in the city regarding how toregister and sell products on online marketplaces, she revealed./.
VNA
