COVID-19 has broken out and lasted for a long time; instead of the traditional way of shopping, the trend of online shopping is increasingly chosen by many consumers.

During nearly 2 years, COVID-19 has broken out many times in Vietnam; many places have been locked down, causing consumers' purchasing power to decrease, causing many challenges for the domestic retail industry. To maintain and develop, retail businesses have had to quickly restructure, transform their business forms, and find new breakthroughs to dominate the market. In which the trend of online sales (online sales) has become a "salvation".

COVID-19 with social distancing policies has caused consumers' shopping to change significantly. Instead of directly buying goods as before, consumers are increasingly turning to direct shopping sites to limit contact with many people.

Ms. Vu Thi Hau, Chairwoman of the Association of Vietnamese Retailers (AVR), said that the fact that each province applies different regulations on social distancing has caused many difficulties for the supermarket system in transporting goods to points of sale. In addition, the high cost of renting premises has also put great financial pressure on shopping centers and supermarkets.

Therefore, in this context, online shopping is really the most effective and attractive measure.

This is clearly shown in the report of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade). Accordingly, in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak, with 53% of the population participating in online shopping, the Vietnamese e-commerce market achieved a growth rate of 18%, worth 11.8 billion USD, estimated to account for 5.5% of the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue nationwide.

"A good start makes a good ending." With the great potential of e-commerce, retail businesses quickly grasp the trend, restructure, transform business forms, and find new breakthroughs to dominate the market. More and more retailers are quickly grasping the online trend by promoting the sales app model on the phone; even many manufacturing businesses are entering this form.

 

According to Ms. Hau, farmers now know how to use technology to put products on e-commerce sites. "Selling on websites is becoming more and more familiar to consumers. Online sales (or online sales) have a big impact on the offline sales system; businesses also have scenarios to cope with this real situation. Online sales are an inevitable trend and suitable for the current epidemic situation".

Recently, retail businesses have also had to invest heavily in opening more online services, such as technology, ordering, transportation, people, etc., trying to meet market trends and customer tastes.

Meanwhile, according to Ms. Le Viet Nga, implementing the project to develop the domestic market in conjunction with the Campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods" in the period of 2014-2020 has the content of prioritizing e-commerce through supporting the construction and operation of the information portal "Proud of Vietnamese goods".

This helps support the propaganda and promotion of Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium enterprises; support enterprises in applying e-commerce to production and business activities; expand the market through modern distribution channels combined with electronic payment and modern transportation; support enterprises in applying e-commerce software to manage production and business activities; expand the market and distribution channels.

In 2020, the program "National Online Vietnamese Store" was launched on e-commerce platforms (Voso, Sendo, Tiki) and has been promoted to support businesses. 

From December 2020 to present, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and e-commerce platforms have organized dozens of e-commerce connection programs to support Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises in provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Son La, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Can Tho, Dong Nai...

Thousands of businesses have accessed the program and selected Vietnamese products to distribute through the "National Online Vietnamese Store" and on e-commerce platforms. This program has been prepared since the end of 2019 and will be promoted in 2021 in accordance with the government's direction on removing difficulties in the circulation of goods and promoting the consumption of agricultural products due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The "National Online Vietnamese Store" can be seen as a "Vietnamese Supermarket" on e-commerce platforms sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, with the support of local departments and branches to promote the consumption of Vietnamese goods and agricultural products and organize distribution across the country through e-commerce," said Ms. Nga.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated with e-commerce platforms (Voso, Sendo, Tiki, Lazada, Shopee, and Postmart) to successfully organize programs to support the consumption of Vietnamese agricultural products on e-commerce platforms such as "Son La Specialty Day," "Coconut Land Festival—Ben Tre Specialty," "Hai Duong Lychee Specialty Program", "Bac Giang Lychee Booth on e-commerce platforms," or most recently, "Vietnamese Agricultural Products Market".

"Through these programs, thousands of tons of agricultural products (mainly Bac Giang lychees in the recent period) have been supported for consumption through the e-commerce channel that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is implementing," Ms. Nga informed.

How do I control online trading?

Experts say that developing online sales is an inevitable trend of the market during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID-19. Therefore, this is both a challenge and an opportunity, especially for Vietnamese goods not only domestically but also for export. 

According to Ms. Vu Thi Hau, on many international trading floors, Vietnamese products have also been listed and reached many countries around the world. That shows the solid position of Vietnamese goods in the international market. Therefore, businesses need to improve technology, especially food safety and hygiene. We must find a way to produce delicious, quality products.

 

However, in addition to promoting the growth of online sales, a "hot" issue that cannot be overlooked is how to monitor and control this sales channel to operate effectively and build trust with consumers.

According to experts, the most practical measure is to have sanctions for implementing regulations and selling on all websites. Because only strict control can ensure that consumers enjoy good products. 

"Not all products sold online are of good quality. To gain consumer trust, we must have sanctions for implementing regulations and selling on all websites. Farmers who livestream, we also have to manage livestock, crops, and processing facilities. Only strict control can ensure that consumers use good products. Competition must be healthy, and advertising must also be truthful. All goods in supermarkets are strictly inspected, from origin documents to goods displayed on shelves. Only strict control can produce fresh, delicious goods," Ms. Vu Thi Hau affirmed.

According to Ms. Hau, in addition to controlling the quality of goods, it is also necessary to manage tax payments for online sales businesses. When offline sales have to pay taxes, online sales must also closely monitor tax payments to create fair competition.

However, according to Ms. Hau, investing in technology for small and medium-sized enterprises is currently very difficult. In particular, Vietnamese goods face many difficulties when consumers still prefer foreign goods.

"In my opinion, there should be a technology promotion fund; this is very necessary in the current context so that businesses can access information technology and biotechnology. This technology promotion fund is very necessary now and in the future to popularize Vietnamese goods with better and more perfect quality," Ms. Hau proposed.

Mr. Vu Vinh Phu, former Deputy Director of the Department of Trade and former Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, commented that e-commerce trading floors are like markets for buying and selling goods, and the market management board must control and manage business households. 

"If small traders are found to be trading in counterfeit or fake goods, they will be punished according to the law, and the market management board must also bear joint responsibility for not strictly controlling. Therefore, e-commerce platforms must be responsible for controlling and managing the goods sold on their sites and clearly defining the responsibilities of the trading floor owners," Mr. Phu emphasized.

 

According to VTC.vn