Potentials made use of to promote digital exportation

Boosting exports through global e-commerce platforms is considered the optimal opportunity for businesses and industries in the current context.

Major opportunities

The evaluation of the Department of Industry and Trade shows that the e-commerce market has connected and shared among service supply systems, optimizing the linkage process between manufacturers and consumers, which is a good foundation for businesses to continue developing. In exchange with us, Ms. Phan Thi Khanh Duyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that in 2023, the total export value of the province reached nearly 40 billion US dollars. Of which, the sales volume from e-commerce accounted for 12%, a significant increase compared to the same period last year. This shows the potential for the development of e-commerce for local businesses to be very large to exploit.

Alibaba Vietnam staff advise Binh Duong businesses on virtual space models to introduce products through e-commerce platforms

Up to now, online exports have not only attracted the attention of the Binh Duong business community. According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Vu, Chairman of the Leather and Handbag Association of the province, this activity has been strongly promoted since the entire economy was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, up to now, cross-border exports through e-commerce have been emphasized by businesses to maintain a loyal customer base globally. There are transaction methods, shipping methods to ensure optimal costs, and secure the source of goods when trading across borders.

One more reason is that it is time for businesses to have regulatory agencies intervene in legal issues clearly to ensure that businesses exporting to markets are guaranteed and avoid fraud. "With digital transformation, businesses also actively seek easily accessible information, but still very much need support from regulatory agencies," Mr. Vu said.

According to Mr. Mike Zhang, Director of Alibaba Vietnam, global e-commerce continues to grow and is a trend, helping small and medium-sized enterprises grow strongly. “Vietnam is among the top 5 countries with the highest growth rate in e-commerce and is a fertile land for cross-border e-commerce, providing opportunities for all businesses. In Binh Duong, the number of employees supporting our office's businesses has quadrupled compared to 2023. This shows that the demand from businesses is very high,” Mr. Mike Zhang said.

Theo estimates, the 2020-2027 period the compound growth rate of global cross-border e-commerce in retail will increase by 28.4%. For the wood furniture and interior sector, a strong export sector of Binh Duong, in the US market, e-commerce in the furniture industry is forecasted to grow strongly in the next 4 years, potentially reaching USD 118.6 billion in 2027.

All-out support

According to Ms. Phan Thi Khanh Duyen, despite very positive signals showing that the provincial enterprise is paying attention to the "digital export" activities, increasing online export opportunities for many products, there are still many obstacles and shortcomings, making the effectiveness not commensurate.

Main obstacles, mainly due to subjective factors, such as businesses understanding the necessity of digital transformation, promoting online exports but mostly not knowing where to start. The lack of personnel knowledgeable in online exports is the second major barrier. The third issue, as pointed out by many experts, is that many businesses, after accessing online export activities through e-commerce platforms, tend to forget to innovate and diversify their products, marketing methods, and product introductions are not regularly improved, leading to a continuous decline in the number of customers.

“Establishing a store on reputable global e-commerce platforms will bring many advantages to businesses, such as a large customer base, comprehensive support systems for both sellers and buyers. Buyers will have more trust in making payments due to various warranty policies, while sellers will also feel more secure. Buying and selling will be faster and more convenient compared to traditional export channels,” analyzed Mr. Mike Zhang.

According to Mr. Mike Zhang, the limitation of Vietnamese businesses is the issue of inadequate marketing. In the near future, Alibaba will organize visits for businesses in Binh Duong to some factories that have effectively sold products through the Alibaba e-commerce platform to see how to organize, display, arrange, promote, connect, and share experiences more specifically.

Ms. Phan Thi Khanh Duyen asserts that supporting businesses through diverse channels for market development is a top priority in many action programs of the Binh Duong industry and trade sector. In the context of new-generation trade agreements opening up opportunities to promote products and accelerate development for Vietnamese enterprises, there are also new, stricter provisions related to cross-border e-commerce exports. For businesses, entrepreneurs must clearly see the advantages, challenges of the business, products to make efforts to find optimal, convenient and sustainable solutions to access the digital market more effectively.

Reported by Tieu My – Translated by Vi Bao