In late August, Doan Van Hieu Em, CEO of The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World), the largest mobile phone distribution chain in Vietnam, for the first time appeared on a livestream to sell products.

The products Em introduced were OnePlus mobile phones. The one-hour livestream attracted 17,000 views, and 367 orders worth VND4.7 billion.

The pandemic has not only changed consumer behavior, but also given a push to traditional manufacturers and sellers, forcing them to go online to survive.

Sagrifood previously distributed its pork mostly through supermarket chains. But it has put products on marketplaces after realizing that more and more customers are now shopping online.

Its online sale channel has been active for two months only, but sales are very satisfactory. The sales in the summer promotion program were 40 times higher than usual.

Small and medium sized enterprises need to find out ways to develop quickly and strongly within a short time, with the lowest possible budget. This is called a ‘growth hacking’ strategy. Every business needs a ‘growth hacking strategy, especially after the pandemic ends.

The Binh Dinh Food Wholesale Market in HCM City is undergoing a digital transformation process to change its cumbersome system. The market has put some special products on marketplaces or sold them online.

Dinh Thi My Loan from the Vietnam Retailers’ Association commented that the 4.0 industry era has pushed businesses into a life-and-death race. If enterprises are slow to reform and cannot go online, they will not survive.

Speaking at the Vietnam Online Marketing Forum (VOMF) 2020, Le Hoang Long from Nielsen Vietnam said that recent surveys conducted by Nielsen found a sharp increase in online shopping demand after the pandemic broke out.

The surveys found that while orders for food and essential items are on the increase, demand for non-food and fashion products were on the decrease. This was useful information for e-commerce firms to figure out strategies to adapt to the new circumstances.

As the number of people visiting marketplaces to buy fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) has increased sharply, Long believes that FMCG will be a potential growth source for e-commerce in Vietnam in the time to come.

Breakthrough after pandemic

Experts think that online trading could be a problem for small and medium enterprises, but say this is an inevitable trend.

In order to catch up with the new trend, shops and supermarket chains are increasing their investment in technology to support sales. However, the investments require high expenditures, and are a burden on businesses with limited financial resources.

Dang Hoang Hai, director of the Department of the E-Commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), said the pandemic has strongly affected enterprises and they lusy adapt or otherwise die.

Small and medium sized enterprises need to find out ways to develop quickly and strongly within a short time, with the lowest possible budget. This is called a ‘growth hacking’ strategy. Every business needs a ‘growth hacking strategy, especially after the pandemic ends.

Le Hoang Long from Nielsen Vietnam recommended that with the changes in consumption behaviors, enterprises need to change their distribution strategies by expanding online sale channels and D2C (direct to consumer), change their lists of products, strengthen multi-channel sales, and convey messages about health and quality assurance.

Do Huu Hung, director of Accesstrade Vietnam, believes that using ‘super apps’ will be a trend, because they allow businesses to obtain new clients from partners and help reduce costs by retaining clients with many services, thus reducing marketing costs and increasing sales.

“Maybe users don’t have clear demand for super apps, but they want convenience. This will be a new business trend,” Hung said.

In fact, selling online is a trend, but not all businesses have enough resources for investment. Therefore, taking full advantage of platforms such as Google and Amazon could be a good choice for businesses that have just started to digitize. 

Tam An

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