Boosting exports to the US market via e-commerce platforms like Amazon is effective in the context of the extensive business quagmire caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to insiders.

At the seminar (Photo: congthuong.vn)

At a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City on October 21, experts said selling products to the US market via e-commerce platforms will help exporters save cost, particularly as they are struggling with different aspects of the pandemic.

According to Tran Phu Lu, Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of the country’s biggest economic hub, the US is currently the third largest trade partner of Viet Nam, and Viet Nam is the 7th biggest supplier of goods for the American nation.

Last year, bilateral trade topped 75.7 billion USD. During January-September, despite the pandemic’s impact, two-way trade grew 17.7 percent year-on-year to over 65.1 billion USD, with Vietnamese exports worth 54.7 billion USD, up 22.7 percent.

Lu said the US offers one of the largest consumer markets on earth with a population of over 328 million and a high per capita income of 65,760 USD. However, selling goods to this market with fierce competition via traditional distribution or intermediary channels would cost Vietnamese firms a huge amount of money. And e-commerce now appears as a turbocharger for Vietnamese exports.

According to Statista, the US’s e-commerce has been unceasingly developed in the past decade. E-commerce retail sale is forecast to surge to over 476 billion USD in 2024 from more than 343 billion USD in 2019.

Director of Amazon Global Selling Viet Nam Tran Xuan Thuy said the group is currently the top retail e-commerce company in the US. As of February 2020, it accounted for 38.7 percent of the e-commerce retail sale in that country.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Phuong Trinh, senior account manager at Amazon Global Selling Viet Nam, said except for fresh food, customers can sell everything on Amazon platform. She laid a particular stress on several items that gain competitive edge on the Amazon platform, including family healthcare, beauty and personal care, food-beverage and interior décor.

Experts said Vietnamese sellers need to consider several factors like seasonality, brands products’ characteristics, quality requirements, and consumer segments since the US consumers always prioritise prestigious brands and products that satisfy FCC, DOE and FDA standards of the US.

Vietnamese firms were also advised to improve productivity, outline better brand development strategies, and make good use of marketing tools to improve product identity to attract customers.

Source: VNA