Vietnamese products succeed on Alibaba.com

Businesses need to make the most of opportunities presented by e-commerce

Success story

Tran Dinh Toan, Deputy General Director of OSB, the Alibaba Group’s authorized agent in Vietnam, said that Vietnamese major products on Alibaba.com include foods and drinks accounting for 17 percent of all Vietnamese products, agricultural products 17 percent, handicrafts 13 percent, construction materials 9 percent, and textiles, garments, leather and footwear 4 percent.

A Hong Duong Rattan and Bamboo Co., Ltd. Representative said the company became a free-of-charge member on Alibaba.com in 1999 when only 3-4 Vietnamese businesses used the platform. Via Alibaba.com, Hong Duong found clients worldwide, learnt about the global demand, and devised the best business strategy. Alibaba.com helped the company receive 15-16 requests daily and 20 percent of them turned into sales contracts worth about US$2 million per year. Currently, 60 percent of the company’s products are exported to North America and 15 percent to Europe.

Safe Seafood Company Director Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy said that during the first two months on Alibaba.com they signed more than 10 sales contracts. Now that the company has worked on Alibaba.com for seven years, it currently receives 150 requests each month, five percent of which become sales contracts. So far, 80 percent of the company’s sales come from Alibaba.com.

Similarly, Alibaba.com currently contributes 80 percent of Visimex’s sales. The company signed in as a member on Alibaba.com in 2005 and progressively found orders worldwide. The company currently receives an average of 200 requests per month of which about 10 percent become deals. Visimex has a large number of clients globally including India, Indonesia, China, the Middle East, South Africa and Spain.

Online business is a trend

According to Tran Dinh Toan, online business is developing. Importers and buyers are paying attention to e-commerce websites where successful deals are five times higher than traditional commerce. In consideration of this, companies should consider e-commerce as part of their business strategies and choose proper access to e-commerce to optimize costs and achieve greater efficiency. They also need to invest in e-commerce staff training.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam E-commerce and Information Technology Agency Director Tran Huu Linh said that e-commerce is a growing trend in Vietnam and helps businesses overcome technical barriers, learn about consumer demand and connect with importers and buyers to exploit export markets in an effective manner. However, to avoid risks, businesses need to choose reliable e-commerce websites.

Quynh Nga & Lan Anh