In the context of a series of traditional markets closing to prevent the epidemic, solutions to support small traders to access online channels are being considered.
This is a proposal that has just been sent by the Ho Chi Minh City Advertising Association and the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom) to the Department of Industry and Trade when, up to now (July 7), three wholesale markets (Binh Dien, Hoc Mon, Thu Duc), and more than 100 traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City have closed.
Speaking to VnExpress, Mr. Truong Gia Bao, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Advertising Association, said that at the meeting on the morning of July 6 with the Department of Industry and Trade, the associations said that if applied, this project could be implemented in 3 phases. First, to maintain the connection between sellers and buyers, the market management board will collect contact information of small traders and publish it on media channels for customers who need to call to order.
In the next phase, the program will support sellers to join e-commerce platforms where there is a large customer traffic. Association members will also train small traders on how to use effective tools and familiarize themselves with operations (packaging, shipping) and payments.
"Small traders have the right to choose the factors of interest when interacting with the e-commerce ecosystem. They will be supported with whatever they need. For example, sellers who do not want to go on the platform but want to connect with a shipping unit or diversify payment methods are all fine," Mr. Bao added.
After these two steps, in the long term, small traders in need will be supported to complete their e-commerce channels. "If anyone is determined, they will be able to sell goods through three channels: traditional, phone, and on the floors," said Mr. Bao.
Hoc Mon wholesale market on the evening of June 27, before closing to prevent COVID-19
A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade said that this is a very interesting proposal in the context of small traders in the markets being heavily affected by COVID-19. The department said that there will be an official conclusion after working with relevant parties.
Many small traders also consider this proposal quite practical in the current situation but are concerned about the cost and delivery story. Ms. Hanh, a fish trader at Xom Moi market (Go Vap), said that each kilogram of fish makes a profit of 5,000–10,000 VND if sold online. In addition to discounts and maintenance fees, delivery activities are also quite troublesome. Because this is a difficult-to-preserve item, it will be quite expensive to package and send to customers.
Ms. Hoa, a ham vendor at Tan Dinh Market, shared that she had previously sold products through online channels, but the discount of up to 20-30% made her unprofitable and she had to withdraw after a month of testing.
"Each kilogram of ham costs 220,000 VND; the profit is about 40,000 VND, but the platforms discount 40,000-60,000 VND. I will lose money," Ms. Hoa said.
Having combined selling pork through social networks for more than a year, Ms. Thanh, a vendor at Phu Tho market (District 11), said that if the fee was completely free or only 100,000-200,000 VND per month, she and many other vendors would join immediately.
According to Mr. Truong Gia Bao, e-commerce platforms are currently tending to no longer compete by supporting discounts on goods. Along with that, buyers are now more willing to pay shipping costs. Therefore, the level of sales discounts depends on the business partner's choice. Moreover, the partner charges a fee to run ads, increasing the number of customers for the seller. "I think this is fair for both sides," he commented.
Sharing with VnExpress, a representative of Sendo said that from the experience of the C2C model and especially the popularization of e-commerce for farmers, there are 3 factors to note to ensure the success of digital transformation in traditional businesses.
Firstly, there is popularization from the government as well as a successful model for small traders to trust in e-commerce. Secondly, small traders should be trained in the latest sales techniques, not just posting products for sale. For example, Sendo has had a livestream training program for farmers in the past. Thirdly, to solve the problem of profit margins, the single purchase and multi-purchase models at warehouse prices will be the solution that this platform has been successfully applying in the past for small and medium enterprises.
Lazada also believes that to successfully deploy the e-commerce model, the first thing is the willingness and initiative to step out of the "safe zone" to accept new business methods of small traders. Next, when doing business on e-commerce platforms, product quality, available inventory, and traceability are very important.
"Specifically, sellers will have to provide sufficient certification documents for their products in accordance with the regulations of the e-commerce platform and current laws," the representative of this platform noted.
In addition, when small traders sell online, they must have the mindset to continuously improve their services. The difference between offline and online business comes from the fact that sellers can access support tools to record business data and customer feedback in real time. From there, they can quickly make decisions to change and upgrade services to meet customer needs more quickly, conveniently, and effectively.
Mr. Truong Gia Bao said that he will continue to discuss in detail with the Department of Industry and Trade about this proposed program. In the immediate future, the Department said it will contact market management boards to inform them about the program and may pilot some markets.
According to VNExpress