Alibaba.com, the global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group, recently published “The Home & Gardening Industry Trends” report in May 2021 revealing a tendency which people feel more comfortable working from home. This has created significant changes in Home & Gardening category’s purchasing volume, which was valued at over RMB1 trillion (VND 3,509.5 trillion), a 10% year-on-year growth on the e-commerce platform and 90% contribution to the sector growth. 

High demand resulted in a triple YOY purchasing pattern

Following the statistics of Alibaba.com’s report, the number of kitchenware and home décor buyers in a single month triples year-on-year (YOY), an inevitable increase following high demand. 

The report also highlighted that overall number of home and gardening products offered reached more than 60% YOY growth. The most popular product categories on the platform are home décor and furniture, living space improvement, and kitchen suppliers. Among them, the top three items with the most significant increase in purchasing volume are smart home appliances (+150%), pet products (+100%), and baby supplies (+70%).

Key summary - Alibaba.com’s “The Home & Gardening Industry Trends” report

In April this year alone, the daily website traffic and sourcing volume of this industry witnessed a remarkable jump of 118% YOY and 44% YOY, respectively. Kitchenware, home decor, and pet products attract buyers the most, with YOY active buyers’ growth rate increases more than threefold. Active buyers for household supplies, storage and organization products impressively grew over 250%, which is considered a stunning achievement of these categories.

In terms of purchasing value, buyers from the United Kingdom, the United States, South Korea, and France top the rank.

“Home environment refurbishment” and “Interior Décor” remain the keywords for best-selling products in the West, and sellers on Alibaba.com have achieved stellar results after the end of the summer décor season in this region.

Significant highlights from other perspectives of
“The Home & Gardening Industry Trends” report

Vietnamese SMEs leveraging the trends in Home & Gardening on Alibaba.com

While the pandemic distances communities physically, it simultaneously opens doors for SMEs to explore their potential with global opportunities via online exporting. In Vietnam, several SMEs have succeeded on Alibaba.com, spanning across various industries. Home and gardening is one of the key categories on the platform, and Vixemco and Veritas Vietnam (Veritas) are among the top-line brands due to their impressive performance.

Joining Alibaba.com in early 2021, Vixemco has signed three big contracts totaling more than USD 70,000 (appx. VND 1.6 bil) amid the new wave of COVID-19, being able to meet rocketing demands from the global market.

 “We are very excited about our sales performance this year, especially during the pandemic time. Thanks to Alibaba.com, we are able to deliver the products that consumers need. Alibaba.com is now the primary distribution channel of Vixemco, taking up 80% of company revenue. Our plan is to invest more in human resources and methodical international marketing plans on the platform. In the near future, we will develop more home decoration products from natural materials such as bamboo, rattan, banana fiber, corn to meet the trend of limiting plastic consumption from Western countries.” – said Ms. Doan Thi Phuong Thuy – Founder of Vixemco.

Veritas Vietnam (Veritas) is a leading enterprise in eco-friendly, safe, and bioplastic products. Their strength is applying advanced technology to create products from bioplastic combined with Vietnamese coffee grounds, reducing dependence on fossil raw materials. Since joining Alibaba.com, their reputation has reached beyond the border of Vietnam, and the awareness of their products and technology is recording a stellar order rate increase of 300%. Despite the hardships that COVID-19 brings in, Veritas is still receiving a high volume of inquiries and orders worldwide via the platform.

Mr. Le Thanh – CEO of Veritas, shared about the company’s outstanding results on Alibaba.com: “It’s very impressive that Alibaba.com is bringing in revenue for businesses even during the pandemic, and helping them expand their exposure beyond their home markets. Veritas has established solid partnerships globally in challenging markets such as the US, the EU, and Japan. This is an achievement that we could not be able to achieve if we did not join Alibaba.com”.

“Four new” demand – the new benchmarks in the home and gardening market

Regarding future trends, Alibaba.com shares that apart from pricing and quality, buyers of home and gardening products put more value on the “Four new”: New Consumption, New Channels, New Scenarios, and New Markets. If sellers can seize these demands, they can adjust their product strategies and stand out from competitors.

New Consumption: In response to a new level of quality consumption, products must incorporate several essential elements such as personalization, fashion, technology, and design.

New Channels: With buyers' changing consumption habits, product listing and e-commerce channel management are the keys to expanding to major markets. Moreover, live streaming and video marketing have become popular, and combining different channels, such as key opinion leader (KOL) endorsement and online events, has become a trendy approach in the new channel’s era.

New Scenarios: It boils down to whether sellers can adopt precision marketing based on styles, series, or themes and transform the overall approach from selling a product to selling a lifestyle.

New Markets: With the personalized consumption trend taking shape among consumers, market demands have become fragmented. For instance, with the rise of markets for hedonic consumption, environmental protection, and smart technology, sellers must explore them one by one.