E-commerce has become an export trend for many businesses. Photo: N.H

Reduce time and costs

E-commerce is a business method that has brought efficiency in recent years. E-commerce helps connect businesses and sellers very quickly and conveniently. Instead of businesses participating in foreign exhibitions to promote products and find sales channels, which takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money; now with e-commerce, businesses' products reach customers faster and customers can buy products from all countries around the world.

With the advantages of e-commerce, many businesses are gradually bringing their products and brands to more markets.

Mr. Duong Nhu Duc, Director of Ninh Binh Phosphate Fertilizer Joint Stock Company, said that the enterprise specializes in producing fused phosphate and NPK products to serve agricultural production. The company's phosphate fertilizer products have been exported to many countries, especially Japan, Korea, Australia and some Southeast Asian countries. In 2024, the business is expected to grow 15-20%, by this time orders have reached 70%.

Mr. Duong Nhu Duc said that the potential for businesses to expand production and export scale is huge. Currently, businesses are actively using e-commerce platforms to have wider exposure to foreign markets. However, to take the product further and reach more customers, the business determined that it needed to improve product quality as well as the nutritional content of product categories, to ensure compliance with standards. At the same time, solutions need finding to lower production costs and increase product competitiveness such as: investing in more advanced technology machinery; higher quality products.

In 2024, agricultural production will be more positive and more favorable than in 2023 and previous years. Prices of exported agricultural products in Vietnam have grown well; farmers are also more interested in high-quality agricultural production. Therefore, in 2024 and next years, the manufacturing industry, especially fertilizer production and trading, will have advantages.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Duong Phu Han, Director of VIETIMEX Company Limited, said that from e-commerce, many international partners have contacted and sought out businesses for business connections. “We have joined Alibaba e-commerce platform for two years. This is a channel where many businesses and partners buy and wholesale. When businesses list information on the stock exchange, many partners proactively come to them. Therefore, e-commerce is a very advantageous channel for businesses to get closer to purchasing partners around the world. However, for wholesalers with large quantities of goods and large values, trading through e-commerce platforms is not convenient, because of limit ations in charging high fees and limit ing transaction value", Mr. Duong Phu Han said.

Adapt to new market conditions

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tinh, Director of Tan Hoa Co., Ltd. said that due to producing product lines in the middle and high-end segments, in 2023, the company's business activities will not be much affected. Revenue even grew thanks to many new customers compensating for the decline of old customers. This is thanks to the company's active participation in international fairs such as High Point, Spoga, Hawa Expo... In addition, the company also finds many new customers through online channels such as the business's website. “In previous years, with many orders, the company did not have to worry about finding customers. But since last year, when the situation was difficult, the company has promoted solutions to find customers, thereby helping to significantly reduce the negative impacts of the international market" - Mr. Tinh said.

Currently, Tan Hoa is operating at 100% capacity to meet customer needs from now until the end of June. In addition, the company has also signed future orders until the end of the year. The difference is that customers require faster delivery time, instead of ordering 3-6 months in advance as before, now it is reduced to only 2-3 months, some orders even require delivered after only 1 month. Therefore, businesses must reorganize production, prepare raw materials and give customers forecasts about best-selling models to have a reserve plan. The positive point is that Tan Hoa has proactively designed about 80% of exported goods, so the company will pre-do some stages. When a customer orders, they only need to complete it for quick delivery.

Mr. Tinh assessed that the market situation this year will be much better than in 2023. Many old customers have restructured and started buying again. However, the way of purchasing also has differences. Previously, buyers bought large quantities to store in warehouses in the US, then distributed the goods themselves and transported them to retail stores. But this year, these customers asked manufacturing businesses in Vietnam to build containers of many different product codes and ship directly to retail stores in the US. Therefore, businesses will need to prepare a large warehouse to store goods.