Digital transformation is both a need and an inevitable trend that will help businesses expand business reach. (Photo: VNA) This alsoholds true for the post COVID-19 new normal period, according to the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
Tran Ngoc Liem,Deputy Director of VCCI’s HCM City Branch, said: “In a competition to retainand expand the market, those businesses that go for digital transformationquickly will be able to capitalise on development opportunities and reap moresuccess than those following traditional production and trading methods.”
Liem said thatin Vietnam, digital transformation was taking place in almost every type ofbusiness at different levels.
A recent VCCIsurvey on developments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic found that amajority of more than 400 businesses polled had great expectations from digitaltransformation.
Up to 98 percentof the respondents expect digital transformation to create great changes intheir production and trading activities; 71 percent and 61.4 percent,respectively, expect it to help reduce production costs as well as paperwork; and 45.3 percent expect it to help add value to products and improveproduct and service quality.
But thereality is that there is a big gap in digital transformation at largeenterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Liem saidat a seminar held by the VCCI and Mediastep Software Vietnam Co., Ltd in HoChi Minh City last week.
Large-scaleenterprises have quickly embraced digital transformation and believe in itspositive results, while SMEs, which account for nearly 98 percent of totalVietnamese businesses, have faced difficulties in making the far-reachingchange.
According toexperts, in the context of the current pandemic, digital applications and toolsplay an important role in supporting and promoting the transformation process,promoting sales and helping them develop more sustainably.
Tom Peng, CEOof Mediastep Software Vietnam, said more and more global buyers were usingonline platforms to source products instead of making on-site visits, solocal businesses must transform and join e-commerce platforms toapproach customers around the world and expand opportunities to access theglobal market.
Nguyen Thanh Lam,GOEXPORT business director, said according to data from Alibaba.com, during the pandemicperiod, the number of customers buying products on the platform increased by100 percent, the number of orders jumped by over 170 percent, and the totaltransaction value rose by 125 percent.
But thesupply of products on the platform increased by only 5 percent, offeringopportunities for suppliers, he said.
The B2B e-commerceplatform Alibaba.com is supportingVietnamese firms in acquiring knowledge and skills to conductinternational trade activities, he added.
Vietnam hasgained a strong reputation among global buyers for its manufacturingcapabilities, high quality products and competitive prices.
In addition topromoting export via e-commerce platforms, local businesses should not forgetthe lucrative home market of 97 million consumers with high internetusage and rising income, speakers said at the seminar.
Nguyen Thi MyXuan, business director of Gosell, suggested that local businessesadopt omni-channel retailing strategies to adjust to consumerbehaviour changes in the new normal period.
Xuan also saidpromotional policies must be implemented synchronously across sales channels inorder to attract and increase the rate of brand recognition and loyalty amongcustomers./.
VNA
