Marketplaces like Amazon play an increasingly important role in goods retail, especially in the context of Covid-19.

Many Vietnamese products are available on Amazon

Many Vietnamese products, especially food specialties such as fish sauce and coffee, are on sale on Amazon and have caught attention.

The products with Vietnamese origin available on Amazon have prices 10-15 times higher than the prices in the domestic market.

On the Amazon US website, one straw broom is priced at VND460,000 ($20), and coconut shell VND180,000 ($8). On Amazon UK, a rattan-made basket is priced at VND3.5 million, and each horn comb or cloth pen box is VND400,000.

According to Amazon’s representative in Vietnam, it is no longer difficult to sell Vietnamese products such as brooms and lanterns to the world. Businesses just sit at home, and access 300 million Amazon’s clients all over the world.

They only need to carry products to Amazon’s stores, post information about their products on the e-commerce platform, and manage orders. There is no need to care for other work, from transportation to customer care.

The e-commerce giant has the largest logistics infrastructure system with 175 fulfilment centers all over the world.

Tran Thi Phuong Lan, deputy director of the Hanoi Industry and Trade Department, said in many craft villages, products are put into storehouses. E-commerce is the right channel that helps businesses solve their problems.

Tran Xuan Thuy, director of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, believes that the cross-border e-commerce scale will exceed $3.3 trillion in the next two years, creating a new trend in the global consumption and trade.

“We can do trade in the US and Europe while we are sitting in Vietnam through the Amazon platform,” he said.

A handmade paper postcard is priced at VND20,000 in Vietnam, but it can be sold for a price 10 times higher on Amazon. Putting Vietnam’s products on sale on marketplaces is the way to penetrate the US market quickly.

Former Minister Counselor at the Vietnam Embassy's Trade Office in the US Dao Tran Nhan said the US-China trade war and the Covid-19 crisis has provided opportunities to Vietnam’s businesses to squeeze into the US market.

Since US buyers have had to shift to Vietnam and Southeast Asia markets, they are under pressure to seek supply sources, so they make some compromises for Vietnam’s products.

The US is a large market with 328 million people and average income per capita of $65,760 per annum. This, plus their consumption culture, creates a market with the highest purchasing power in the world. There is still much room in the market for Vietnam’s businesses to exploit.

Low-price, essential goods favored

At a workshop on cross-border e-commerce held some days ago, 300 businesses said they wanted to export products through Amazon, a relatively high figure.

Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MOIT) E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, said Amazon, the world’s leading e-commerce platform, gives opportunities to Vietnam’s businesses to approach clients in large and choosy markets, such as the US, Japan and EU. Understanding the marketplace is an urgent need in order to boost sales on Amazon.

Nhan advised businesses to focus on essential low-cost prices when selling products on Amazon, because it is more difficult to sell high-end products. Vietnam’s businesses need to have strong determination, and become more professional and transparent.

Thuy said there are many things Vietnam’s businesses need to learn about to successfully export products, because it is different from doing business on e-commerce platforms.

Representing T&T Group, which has been doing business for many years in the US, Do Quang Vinh, CEO of T&T USA, advised businesses to apply the most suitable strategies when exporting products on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

“When meeting problems in Vietnam, businesses receive support from many agencies. However, when products arrive in the US, only the companies with subsidiaries and branches in the US can offer support,” he said.

SHB has committed to support businesses to sell products on Amazon with a credit package worth VND3 trillion.

The E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency, along with T&T USA and SHB, will work with Amazon to provide free training to at least 1,000 businesses on the sales skills on Amazon and digital marketing skills.

Meanwhile, MOIT has pledged to offer 1,000 Landing Pages (for 1-year use) to businesses that join the program on exporting products on the Amazon platform. 

Thu Ky - Duy Anh

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