Hanoi (VNA) - E-commerce is doing more than building brand awareness in Vietnam. It’s putting local goods directly in front of consumers, sharpening firms' competitiveness and forcing them to keep pace with how people shop today.

From traditional craft villages to digital space

For Minh Tam Ceramics Cooperative in Phu Lang commune, the northern province of Bac Ninh, a smartphone, an internet connection and a livestream have become the new trade promotion toolkit. Rather than waiting for buyers to visit the craft village or relying on traditional distribution, the cooperative now showcases handmade ceramics directly on social media, reaching thousands of viewers and generating orders in real time.

Its Director Dang Thi Tam said TikTok livestreams draw large audiences while also providing an effective platform to showcase Phu Lang’s pottery-making tradition, the cultural values embodied in each piece, and the personal stories of the artisans who create them.

The payoff extends beyond the livestream itself. Many customers who discover the ceramics that way stay in touch on Zalo, track new releases and come back for repeat purchases.

The result is a shorter distance between artisans' hands and the customer's order, and a bigger map for products that once relied almost entirely on foot traffic to the craft village to now find buyers well beyond it.

More companies are taking the same approach, building out websites, apps, sales management software, electronic payments, QR code traceability and storefronts on e-commerce platforms.

Selling without borders

Livestreaming itself is evolving, from a simple promotional format into a trade promotion tool that links products, sellers and buyers directly.

That shift is on display at the "Vitality of Vietnamese Goods" event, running since early 2026 at No. 62 Trang Tien street in Hanoi under the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Agency for Domestic Market Surveillance and Development. Pairing a physical exhibition space with livestreaming has proven an effective way to spread, connect and sell Vietnamese goods.

The goal is to help firms reach consumers through modern channels while giving customers a space to experience products firsthand. Blending in-person experience with digital sales creates two-way interaction, letting firms pitch products, gather feedback and adjust their approaches to the market.

The results show up in visitor counts, views, comments and shares generated during the livestream sessions, and orders have come in not just from Hanoi but from cities and provinces well beyond it.

Once a product goes digital, it can transcend geography entirely. Consumers no longer need to visit a store or craft village in person to learn where a product comes from, how it's made, or whether it's worth buying. They can do all of that, and decide to buy, from a screen.

Folding livestreaming into the event tracks with consumers' broader shift toward digital shopping, said Tran Huu Linh, the agency's Director General, adding that it has considerably widened the connections between local products and their markets./.