HCM City (VNA) – Boosting exports to the USmarket via e-commerce platforms like Amazon is effective in the context of theextensive business quagmire caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according toinsiders.

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

According to Tran Phu Lu, Director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Centreof the country’s biggest economic hub, the US is currently the third largesttrade partner of Vietnam, and Vietnam is the 7th biggest supplier ofgoods 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 toover 65.1 billion USD, with Vietnamese exports worth 54.7 billion USD, up 22.7percent.

Lu said the US offers one of the largest consumer markets on earth with a populationof over 328 million and a high per capita income of 65,760 USD. However,selling goods to this market with fierce competition via traditionaldistribution or intermediary channels would cost Vietnamese firms a huge amountof money. And e-commerce now appears as a turbocharger for Vietnamese exports.
 
According to Statista, the US’s e-commerce has been unceasingly developed inthe past decade. E-commerce retail sale is forecast to surge to over 476billion USD in 2024 from more than 343 billion USD in 2019.

Director of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam Tran Xuan Thuy said the group iscurrently the top retail e-commerce company in the US. As of February 2020, itaccounted for 38.7 percent of the e-commerce retail sale in that country.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Phuong Trinh, senior account manager at Amazon Global SellingVietnam, said except for fresh food, customers can sell everything on Amazonplatform. She laid a particular stress on several items that gain competitiveedge on the Amazon platform, including family healthcare, beauty and personalcare, food-beverage and interior décor.

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

Vietnamese firms were also advised to improve productivity, outline betterbrand development strategies, and make good use of marketing tools to improveproduct identity to attract customers./.