The leader of a textile and garment enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City said that for many years, his company has been placing orders for the retail group Walmart, but all through intermediary distributors. Other brands are similar. Therefore, most enterprises want the opportunity to become direct distributors for Walmart. In fact, Vietnam is also a market in the strategy of the "giant" Walmart.

Photo: Chi Nhan

Walmart, Amazon, Carrefour, IKEA... are all present.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Trong, Head of Walmart's new supplier development department, said that Vietnam is a strategic purchasing location for the group, in the top 5 in the world and second in Asia. Vietnam is supplying goods worth about 7 billion USD in 2023 to the Walmart system with more than 10,500 supermarkets in 19 countries around the world, from electronics, textiles, footwear, interior and exterior goods, household goods, toys to frozen foods... There are about 500 Vietnamese enterprises selling goods to Walmart, but most of them are foreign-invested enterprises, while Vietnamese enterprises are only secondary suppliers. However, the group's orientation in the coming time is to prioritize the development of local suppliers, creating conditions for them to directly supply goods to Walmart instead of just being secondary manufacturers. Mr. Yuichiro Shiotani, Director of Aeon Topvalu VN (under Aeon Group - Japan), also informed that according to the strategic cooperation between Aeon and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, by 2025 Aeon will export 1 billion USD of Vietnamese goods through the group's distribution system around the world. Therefore, Aeon always wants to increase the number of suppliers, for example, purchasing fresh mangoes and bananas from Vietnam, completely replacing the supply from other Southeast Asian countries. In 2023, this unit invited representatives of buyers from many countries to participate in the supply chain connection event organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and then signed contracts to purchase large quantities of bananas, lychees, dragon fruit, shrimp, catfish, etc. Not only Aeon or Walmart, a series of senior leaders of Decathlon, IKEA, Carrefour, etc. have had many direct meetings with domestic enterprises through the supply chain connection event. For many Vietnamese enterprises, although they have not been able to directly communicate with large buyers, the fact that corporations are increasing their visits to Vietnam and expressing interest in Vietnamese goods is also an opportunity to increase exports. Mr. Phan Quoc Nam, Sales Director of Blue Ocean Trading Import-Export Joint Stock Company, said that in 2023, the company participated in a supply chain connection event to introduce the company's strengths, including fresh fruits and processed fruits such as longan, mango, grapefruit, star apple, etc. But more importantly, this is an opportunity for enterprises to exchange and introduce their brands to many customers. "Enterprises participate in many international exhibitions and fairs to connect with old and new customers because every unit wants to sell products to large distribution systems such as Walmart, Carrefour, etc. The fact that a series of corporations come to Vietnam shows that Vietnamese products are increasingly popular. However, the enterprises themselves will also "measure their strength" to see if they are suitable for the conditions and requirements of large corporations or not. If the product and the scale of the enterprise are too small, it will also be an obstacle and certainly large foreign buyers will not be interested," said Mr. Nam.

More than 17 million Vietnamese products sold on Amazon

Vietnamese goods appearing on the world's largest online marketplace Amazon is not a strange thing. However, the fact that up to 17 million domestic products are sold through this platform still surprises many people. Notably, not only businesses have the opportunity to bring Vietnamese goods to everywhere, but many startups and individuals are also selling day and night on e-commerce platforms, promoting the presence of Vietnamese goods in the global market with familiar products.

Previously, a box of Vietnamese golden star balm oil became a best-selling product on Amazon even though the price was dozens of times higher than the domestic market. Or a simple broom was also sold for 13 USD; rattan baskets made from water hyacinth "made in Vietnam" were once in the top 10 best-selling products on Amazon after a week of being posted online by the seller... As someone who decided to find new opportunities through Amazon, Ms. Nguyen Huynh Thu Truc, Director of Organic Viet Food Import-Export Company Limited, shared that after nearly a year of researching the regulations and conditions of Amazon as well as the agricultural market and American consumers... the company only started offering products at the end of 2022. From zero, in 2023 the company sold nearly 4 tons of cashew nuts under the New Bam brand. Sales increased steadily by 20-25% each month. Since the beginning of this year, the company has expanded its sales through TikTok Shop in the US. It is estimated that this year the company will sell 3 times more cashews to the US market. Another unit, CVI Pharma Company, has been developing domestically for more than 10 years with a traditional sales model. To export to the world, Mr. Phan Van Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors - General Director of CVI Pharma, said that he joined the Amazon platform to have the opportunity to access markets in 22 countries. In early 2024, he started selling 2 products, but the company has recorded results when sales reached about 20,000 USD/month and more importantly, positive reviews of the product from users. Mr. Hieu emphasized: When selling through e-commerce platforms, consumer feedback is very important because it determines the existence of the booth. At the present stage, the company focuses on customer experience to get positive reviews, building a brand story for the product. Through the platform's support for logistics, payment, management applications and order fulfillment, small and medium-sized enterprises will quickly penetrate the world market. One of the enterprises that has achieved results when earning millions of USD in sales through the e-commerce platform is the cosmetics brand Abera "Made in Vietnam". Mr. Dong Thanh Son, co-founder of Abera, shared that after many years of doing business according to the e-commerce model but only focusing on selling through the website, the company's leaders were surprised when customers asked why the product was not available on Amazon for them to easily find and buy. At that time, Abera's managers realized that customers in the US always search for product information on Amazon before making a purchase. That was the premise leading to Abera's strategic decision to cooperate with Amazon. The results exceeded the founders' expectations, because in the first year of 2023, sales reached 1 million USD. The company has chosen niche products to reduce competition in the international market when producing specialized products such as melasma, dark spots, scars, etc. "The results are actually quite surprising compared to our plan when we first joined Amazon. The results are still accelerating as the revenue in the first quarter of 2024 has reached the million USD mark. We hope that in 2024, sales can be 7 or 10 times higher than last year," Mr. Son shared. Amazon Global Selling VN's 2023 year-end report said that more than 17 million products of Vietnamese enterprises were sold on Amazon in 2023, export value increased by 50%, the number of sales partners increased by 40%, etc.

Increased export opportunities

In just 10 days, a series of large distribution corporations including Walmart, Amazon, Safeway, Carrefour, Decathlon, Central Group, IKEA, Coppel, LuLu... will gather in Ho Chi Minh City to look for Vietnamese suppliers at the event "Connecting the international supply chain 2024". The list of products that corporations want to purchase and find suppliers is quite diverse. From fashion clothes, shoes, technology accessories, household furniture, handicrafts to frozen fruits, vegetables, noodles, pho, tea, spices, kitchen utensils, stationery... For example, Mexico's Coppel Group currently has a need to import up to 500,000 car tires annually to serve domestic consumption needs. This famous retailer is also particularly interested in products originating from Vietnam such as fashion clothes, shoes, technology accessories, household furniture. According to Mr. Mirash Basheer, Director of May Exports Vietnam Company (under LuLu Group - UAE), the group wants to buy bananas and coffee from Vietnam to export to the Middle East and Muslim markets. Vietnamese goods have many advantages in exporting to the Muslim market while the demand of this market is very large. However, Vietnamese enterprises have not invested in product research and development and have not built a Halal product industry, so they have not taken advantage of the opportunity... Mr. Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Textile, Embroidery and Knitting Association, commented: In export activities, enterprises always need activities and events to connect with partners and buyers. Although online communication takes place every day, meeting in person to exchange information is still very important. The story of a series of corporations around the world coming to Vietnam is a great opportunity for domestic enterprises to contact and connect more widely. "Businesses meeting directly at this event may not be able to sign a contract immediately because it depends on many factors later. But at least in the immediate future, it is an opportunity for businesses to initially expand their relationships with many potential customers, creating momentum for future development," Mr. Pham Xuan Hong added. Associate Professor, Dr. Ngo Tri Long, an economic expert, commented that trade promotion activities and international trade connections are always necessary. In particular, the e-commerce trend is inevitable and is growing. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses need to boldly participate in both retail and wholesale channels to expand their sales opportunities. For example, when participating in sales through Amazon, even though it is in the form of retail, after the product brand has grown, it is possible to sell large wholesale orders to many other retailers.