Vietnamese enterprises should be smart in cross-border e-commerce market

Gijae Seong, CEO of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, shared that in the past five years (2019-2023), the number of products sold on Amazon by Vietnamese sellers has surged by over 300 percent, with the participation by Vietnamese sellers in Amazon’s Brand Registry program seeing a 35-fold increase.

Vietnamese businesses need to be smart in choosing products for cross-border e-commerce platforms

At the beginning, Vietnamese sellers mainly focused on simple products that make quick profits, aiming for short-term benefits. Now, many of them are looking to more long-term vision by not only increasing revenues, but also improving quality and diversifying product portfolios, building brands and expanding to different commodities. He also said that Vietnamese partners have many advantages, particularly in exports with strong support from government initiatives and policies. Many factories and suppliers in Vietnam have decades of export experience, giving them distinct advantages.

In addition, there is a community of Vietnamese young entrepreneurs who are successful not only on Amazon but also on many other e-commerce platforms, who demonstrate a deep understanding of the dynamics of e-commerce. On the other hand, Vietnam’s manufacturing sector has also attracted large investments as many international brands have moved factories to the country, helping boost export output.

This development has contributed to strengthening the supply chain and increasing production capacity of domestic businesses, even in small ones.

“However, when bringing products to the global market, businesses will face many challenges,” said Gijae Seong.

The first challenge is to decide which products to sell. This issue requires sellers not only to understand market demand, but also to grasp market regulations and the compliance of products, thereby helping them make wise choices about their products to sell to the market.

Gijae Seong, CEO of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam

In addition, in product development, businesses need to be very flexible to reflect customer needs in their products and to meet the latest market trends. This is a big challenge for many sellers who are not familiar with the pace of development of cross-border e-commerce in particular and global e-commerce in general.

The second biggest challenge is cost. For example, selling products from Vietnam to the US requires a lot of costs, especially logistics, inbound shipping and inventory management costs.

According to Gijae Seong, businesses that want to succeed must build a brand. Today, the market operates based on demand rather than supply. In the past, limited supply made it easy for new products to attract buyers. However, with abundant supplies today, it is very important to understand target customers and their needs.

To build a successful brand, it is necessary to clearly identify target customers and solve their specific problems. By combining an understanding of the target market with a selling advantage, businesses can establish their distinct brand identity. Otherwise, it will be difficult to sustain a business on any e-commerce platform.

Despite sellers’ initial success thanks to their understanding of online platforms, they will soon face competition from similar products, leading to a loss of market share if there is no differentiation. Therefore, branding is essential for sustainable growth in the e-commerce sector.