In addition to traditional orders showing signs of recovery, the furniture and textile industries actively seek more retail customers through Amazon’s cross-border online channel.
As two key products that bring in tens of billions of dollars each year to Vietnam, wooden furniture and textiles are showing signs of recovery. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, export turnover of wood and wood products reached 4.9 billion USD in the first 4 months of the year, an increase of 25% over the same period in 2023. Wood products alone reached 3.35 billion USD, an increase of 27,000 USD. 7%.
In the same period, textiles and garments brought in 10.42 billion USD, an increase of 6.7%, according to the General Department of Customs. This industry is forecast to be able to reach the yearly target of 44 billion USD, when businesses have enough orders until the end of the third quarter and are negotiating for the fourth quarter.
In addition to traditional export orders, wood furniture and textile industry associations are looking to find more retail customers on Amazon’s cross-border online channel.
On May 24, Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest); Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas); Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Processing Association (Hawa) and a number of other associations announced cooperation with Amazon Global Selling Vietnam in an industry linkage initiative.
Mr. Phung Quoc Man, Vice President of Hawa, spoke at the event on the morning of May 24 in Ho Chi Minh City. Image: AGS
Accordingly, businesses in these industries will be supported by Amazon in accessing skills, knowledge, digital resources, and connecting a network of service providers to open online export stores.
The move comes in the context of furniture and textiles wanting to diversify beyond processing activities and seize the opportunity of these products being loved by international consumers on the Amazon platform.
Mr. Phung Quoc Man, Vice President of Hawa, pointed out that furniture wood exports will slow down in 2023 but online sales will increase dramatically. “However, the level of businesses’ participation in exporting through e-commerce is still limited as most of them mainly process according to orders and designs of foreign distributors,” he said.
Similarly, Mr. Truong Van Cam, Permanent Vice President and Secretary General of Vitas, said that textiles and garments still depend heavily on export partners and are not widely known to customers because they are mostly processed for foreign brands. outside.
“Participating in cross-border e-commerce is a good opportunity for Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises to build their brands,” Mr. Cam said. According to him, Vietnam’s advantages when listed on the stock exchange are prices when directly producing, workmanship and good quality.
Amazon Global Selling confirms that furniture and apparel are in the top 5 best growing product groups of Vietnamese sellers in the past 5 years, along with health, personal care and beauty.
Regarding apparel, buyers prefer brands that are reasonably priced, suitable for work and play, less outdated and durable. Meanwhile, furniture, handicrafts with modern, minimalist styles and friendly materials are being purchased a lot.
“In addition to decorations and kitchen appliances, there is a trend of Vietnamese exterior wood products being popular and growing thanks to businesses with production experience and logistics solutions for bulky goods that are gradually more optimal,” said Mr. Gijae Seong, CEO of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam added.
Amazon Global Selling does not announce the specific number of Vietnamese sellers operating on the floor, but only states “thousands”. However, they revealed that the number of sellers with revenue of over one million USD per year has increased tenfold in the past five years.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of the Center for E-commerce Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that exports through cross-border e-commerce grow about 40-50% each year. However, the scale is still very small, about 5-6 billion USD compared to the total turnover of more than 350 billion USD last year. Therefore, the room for development is very large.
According to experts, medium, small and micro enterprises have become interested in online export since the Covid-19 era. Mr. Tran Xuan Thuy, Southern Regional Director of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, said many businesses have directly approached and proactively asked to participate.
Mr. Phan Van Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of CVI Pharma said this is a golden time to participate. “I think the door to cross-border online export is wide open, especially for small and medium-sized businesses without experience. Because the technology, legal procedures and logistics are ready,” he said.
According to Mr. Gijae Seong, Vietnamese sellers listed on this floor usually have two groups: knowledgeable about online business, skilled in selling in the digital environment, and good at catching trends. Besides, there is a traditional production group that does not know how to build an online brand and take advantage of the tools and solutions available on the platform.
“Businesses should take advantage of data analysis tools to know international market needs and provide suitable products, along with investing in brand building,” he recommended.
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