Alibaba.com – one of the leading B2B E-commerce platforms, has just announced the 2023 Annual Digital B2B Outlook Ebook for the Vietnam market. The exclusive Ebook by AliResearch – gathers contributions and efforts from businesses, academics, and research institutions to help enterprises to accelerate digital transformation. The Ebook highlights current global market trends and explains how Alibaba.com in Vietnam can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) overcome a string of difficulties and uncertainties in 2022 towards a prosperous future development prosperously in 2023
Global B2B E-Commerce Trends
According to Ebook, with the lingering shocks of the pandemic, more and more businesses will move to digital. The relative stability of digital sales will be what many companies need to maintain their operation in the coming year. This trend also implies that B2B online sellers will likely see greater competition next year.
Mr.Andrew Zheng – Vice President of Alibaba.com, said: “We discovered some lessons that B2B businesses can learn to apply in the new year. The first lesson is that a stable B2B e-commerce platform is worth thousands of gold. As e-commerce flourishes, finding a destination to sell and sourcing is significant. The second lesson is how the value of strengthening partnerships with trusted suppliers. As a business owner or COO, you know there will fluctuate, so you need partners who can together face huge movement with you.”
When moving to digital, digital marketing has always been a great attraction to enterprises, especially since there is 93% interaction through search engines. With digital marketing, new entrants can take action immediately to get a piece of those interactions. Besides. The possibility that the number of companies using digital tools for administrative purposes will also increase.
Some long-term trends take place constantly, such as the rising of personalized experiences and video marketing in B2B e-commerce. But some new trends will take center stage, such as the reduced time consumers spend online.
The opportunities for Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises
Vietnam’s export volume has increased rapidly over the past year, contributing to successful growth over the past decade and emphasizing Vietnam’s manufacturing to the global market. There are many reasons for this growth, from political events and a shift in the structure of foreign investment to the pandemic and global supply chain problems. Each piece has come together, making Vietnam a critical player in the global economy. In addition, Vietnam is a member of the Free Trade Agreement (FTAs) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This creates even more opportunities for SMEs in new foreign markets.
Mr. Roger Lou, Country Manager of Alibaba Vietnam, said: “Vietnam has always been one of Alibaba’s most strategic markets. Currently, Vietnam supplies mainly to the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Asia Pacific countries. We continue to expand investment in Vietnam and establish a local ecosystem, including domestic channel partners, local customer service and development team, and market operations team to improve local teams’ organizational capacity continuously.”
The role of Alibaba.com in Vietnam Digital B2B Export
Unlike the Chinese suppliers on the platform, most of the global suppliers on Alibaba.com are manufacturers that produce their products, with nearly 40% of the suppliers having annual revenue of less than USD100 thousand. According to Alibaba.com research, 60% of suppliers have no experience in e-commerce before joining the platform, and 42% of sellers use Alibaba.com as their primary source of business, with 60% aiming to enter a new market. The numbers show that Alibaba.com is a secure channel for small business owners without experience or knowledge of exporting or who need more money for travel and trade shows.
Mr. Duong Khanh Toan, International Business Development Manager of Me Trang Coffee Joint Stock Company, said: “We will invest more in Alibaba.com, as it’s the best saving platform on the market nowadays. Traditional marketing for the international market is too expensive for us.”
Mr. Bui The Anh, CEO of 5S Hair, shared: “We realize that the potential with Alibaba.com for market expansion is great; it’s just a matter of time and implementation; after ten days of completing our online booth on Alibaba.com, we have received 50 inquiries and closed the first order. In addition, customers have a profit margin of 75% on Alibaba, so we are willing to invest more.”
“Currently, on our Alibaba.com platform, more than 70% of Vietnamese suppliers are rated from 2 stars up, with main categories including F&B, Agricultural, Home & Garden, Beauty & Personal Care, Furniture,
Construction, Packaging, Plastic & Rubber, Machinery, and others. Over 800,000 products are listed, and over 70,000 inquiries are received each month worldwide.”, Mr. Roger Lou, Vietnam Country Manager of Alibaba.com, emphasizes.
According to Alibaba.com, sellers need to have good negotiation skills, a muscular country of origin, and a low minimum order quantity (MOQ) to succeed on the platform. Therefore, investing in platform operations is essential to help sellers reach more customers. In addition, efficient day-to-day operations allow sellers to secure more orders. Over 30% of sellers have dedicated staff to operate online stores that can secure more than six crucial orders on the platform each year. For sellers working through a third-party reseller, about 1 to 10 orders are viable in the first year.
