E-commerce brings Vietnamese agricultural products to global market

Chilica, a Vietnamese brand name of chili sauce and fermented ground chili, has become a familiar product of many Vietnamese families and those in many foreign countries over the world after nearly one year of being sold via e-commerce transactions. 

In early 2020, Tomcare’s Director Nguyen Thanh Hien had to cancel the launch of the new product due to the Covid-19 outbreak. He then promoted and sold it on leading e-commerce platforms such as Tiki, Sendo, Lazada, Shopee. His efforts were paid off.

Chilica is sold on Lazada. Photo: Chien Cong

After promoting on the e-commerce sites in a few months, Chilica had its distributors in all provinces. Currently, this brand is found on the shelves of modern supermarkets such as Aeon Mall, Co. op Mart, and Satra, and being exported to Australia.

Furthermore, Tomcare Bio Tech Co., Ltd will sell products on  Amazon in the coming months. “Through this channel, Chilica not only engages consumers in the US but also in many other countries in the world,” Hien told Hanoitimes.

Chilica was one of the many small and medium enterprises using e-commerce platforms to seek outlets for their products.

To expand customer network, the sachi nut business owned by Do Thi Kim Thong also decided to sell online. “Compared with traditional retail channels, sales on e-commerce floors have doubled in recent time,” said Do Thi Kim Thong, Chairman of Kim Thong Trade, Tourism, Import-Export Cooperatives said.

Like Hien and Thong, Tran Dinh Trong, Director of the Eatu Fair Agricultural Service Cooperative in Buon Me Thuot city in the Central Highlands province of Dao Lak, learned e-commerce sale techniques. She expected growth in sales and awareness of coffee products will increase through online platforms compared to traditional channels in the coming time.

“The quality of coffee is very good, but since it is sold through many intermediate channels, we don’t earn much profit. Through this e-commerce platforms, we believe more customers will understand our coffee, and our profit margin would increase,” she said.

Before the pandemic period, the item has not been popular on e-commerce channel. But now the situation is changing. 

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, online shopping is increasingly popular and an inevitable trend for the future.

Selling farm produce on e-commerce sites is a solution that local manufacturers and businesses have turned to in recent times in order to boost sales as well as the process of digital transformation, according to Dang Hoang Hai, Director of the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency (iDEA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Since April 2020, Lazada has seen the opening of thousands of food and agricultural stores on the e-commerce site. Over the past six months, daily sales of fresh and processed food have grown enormously, especially during the year's major shopping festivals, a representative from Lazada to Hanoitimes said.

The Vietnamese online booth. Screenshot: Phi Nhat

Accelerating distribution channel via e-commerce

Recently, the iDEA shaking hands with leading e-commerce platforms have supported Vietnamese manufacturers to distribute goods via the online shopping channel, called the Vietnamese online booth. 

The online booth also required local manufacturers to meet national standards in terms of quality, traceability and safety, so as to increase customers’ trust on products sold online. Many of them have opportunities to learn and build digital transformation plans, as well as operate on the e-commerce site amid the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The iDEA will expand the cooperation with other e-commerce floors to promote Vietnamese products in the domestic and international markets in the coming time, Hai said.

Lazada's representative said that the e-commerce floor will continue to expand cooperation with vendors and brands across the country to diversify supplies for customers. "The core issue is that the products need a reliable brand and a clear origin," he said. "When customers receive the best quality products, they will shop on the online platforms more often."