Illustrative image (Photo: nld.com.vn) Last June, farmers and businesses in the northern provinceof Bac Giang sold a large amount of lychee and many other specialitiesvia live streaming. Since 2021, farmers in this locality usedthe model to sell batches of lychee to customers nationwide.
Amid the booming live commerce trend on social channelssuch as TikTok and Facebook, some cooperatives and lycheegrowers in Bac Giang have organised live streaming events fromtheir gardens, broadcasting the harvesting and packaging process.This has helped them connect with customers and build trust, as well assell a lot of produce, a representative from the provincial Department of Tradeand Industry has said.
To facilitate the consumption ofagricultural and speciality products, Bac Giang has cooperated withTikTok to organise a series of activities, including the One Commune OneProduct (OCOP) events through live streaming. After only four hours,TikTok-savvy merchants sold nearly 50 tonnes of lychee and a variety oflocal OCOP products, the representative said.
The live-selling model has also become familiar tofarmers, cooperatives and agricultural enterprises. Since the COVID-19pandemic, many farmers across the country have changed their sales methods,integrating live streaming to promote and sell their products on socialnetworks and e-commerce platforms.
Since the Lunar Newyear in 2021, several cooperativesselling dragon fruits with VietGAP and GlobalGAP certifications have beentrained in, and tested, live streaming on Facebook to sell products.
In the southern provinces and cities, many cooperatives andhousehold businesses have also used the live streaming model toadvertise and sell southern fruits and cakes which generated massiveengagement. They said the video medium helped their sales increase comparedto selling products online like before.
Besides cooperatives and household businesses, start-upshave also been making good use of the live streaming model topromote their brands, market products and sell goods to consumers at discountprices. Several food businesses have regularly collaborated withTikTokers and KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) to introduce everything fromraw materials, production processes and product trial experiences, Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourers)Newspaper reported.
To attract customers to buy goods via live streaming events,most businesses and stores reduced prices compared to direct sellingat stores or other e-commerce channels. They also allowed customers toreturn goods and get a refund if they found the goods to be of low quality,according to the newspaper.
Logistics infrastructure needed
Do Quang Huy, an e-commerce expert, said agriculturalproducts are Vietnam's strength and promoting online salesis a trend that should attract strong investment.
Recently, TikTok Shop, the video platform's e-commerce wing,launched a new feature to sell fresh goods. Previously, sellers could only sellgoods preserved for more than 15 days. Now, TikTok Shop can handle items thatneed to be delivered within three days. This opens up great opportunitiesfor sellers to speed up agricultural product consumption, Huy toldthe Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourers) Newspaper.
However, fresh agricultural products require fastdelivery. Returned goods might be abandoned because of damage, Huy said,stressing the importance of developing the necessary e-commerce logisticsinfrastructure.
Luong Quang Thi, Chairman of ABA Cooltrans, a cold chainservice provider in Ho Chi Minh City, said e-commerce logistics remained problematic,especially for low-value goods that need express delivery.
Thi cited fresh fruits as an example. Normally, consumers orderbetween 1-5 kilos of fresh fruits each time. Due to their locations, theshipping fee was sometimes higher than the cost of goods. Therefore,they often chose to buy fruits via traditional channels rather than buythem online.
Many agricultural products had seasonal characteristics, thechairman noted. So they have to be sold immediately once harvested or their prices will decrease significantly.
He added that it was also necessary to buildstorage warehouses right at the source./.
VNA
