Gia Lai: Increasing access to e-commerce for small and medium enterprises

Training in business skills and knowledge for small and medium enterprises in Gia Lai province is expected to promote the development of the e-commerce industry.

In the current era of digital transformation, e-commerce is not only a playground for "big guys" but also opens up vast opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to realize their dreams of reaching out.

According to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), the growth rate of Vietnam's e-commerce in 2023 increased by over 25% compared to the previous year and reached 25 billion USD, of which the scale of online retail sales reached 17.3 billion USD.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc - Deputy General Secretary, Vietnam E-commerce Association said that the market share of transaction value of e-commerce platforms in Vietnam in the first 6 months of 2024 had strong growth with 166.49 trillion VND. Of which, Shopee had the highest market share with 116.12 trillion VND, followed by TikTok Shop with 37.6 trillion VND, Lazada with 11.19 trillion VND, Tiki with 1.58 trillion VND.

More than 100 enterprises, cooperatives, and business households in Gia Lai province were trained in starting a business in the field of e-commerce and livestream knowledge. Photo: Hien Mai

Currently, to attract users, online shopping platforms are constantly developing and offering many smart and convenient shopping solutions, bringing many interesting shopping experiences to consumers, thereby helping the platforms attract a large number of new customers of different ages. This increase in the number of users creates a large market, opening up business opportunities for small and medium enterprises. Participating in e-commerce platforms helps businesses reach a huge number of customers, reduce premises costs and increase competitiveness in the market.

Although e-commerce promises many development opportunities, many small and medium-sized enterprises in Gia Lai province have not yet fully exploited the potential of this sales channel. One of the main reasons is the lack of in-depth knowledge of e-commerce. Enterprises do not fully understand the regulations of the platforms and have not effectively exploited artificial intelligence (AI) support tools. This makes it difficult for businesses to build and implement effective business strategies in the online environment.

Realizing the above shortcomings, the Department of Industry and Trade of Gia Lai province has been implementing many drastic solutions to overcome them. Therefore, the Department of Industry and Trade of Gia Lai province in coordination with the College of Economics and Technology (Ministry of Industry and Trade) organized a training course on "Business start-up training in the field of e-commerce and livestream knowledge" for more than 100 enterprises, cooperatives, and business households in the province.

At the training course, the lecturers conveyed some contents about the current e-commerce situation; the legal framework in e-commerce business for small and medium enterprises; steps to deploy e-commerce applications in business startups; introduce popular and successful e-commerce business models today; evaluate the suitability of the models with the actual situation of the enterprise.

In addition, the lecturers focused on guiding businesses, cooperatives, and business households on the work needed to prepare for starting a business in the field of e-commerce such as: choosing business products; equipping knowledge; building scenarios to attract potential customers; building sales processes and policies, processing orders, and taking care of customers on e-commerce platforms.

Enterprises, cooperatives, and business households are instructed to practice livestreaming their products on e-commerce platforms and social networking platforms Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, etc. Photo: Hien Mai

In particular, during the training day, businesses, cooperatives, and business households also listened to experience sharing and were guided to practice livestreaming their products on e-commerce platforms and social networking platforms Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, etc.

A representative of the Department of Industry and Trade of Gia Lai province said that the training course helps local business owners improve their level of using information technology applications and livestreaming skills to promote their business products on smartphones. At the same time, it supports and promotes the widespread application of digital transformation in trade promotion for business owners and cooperatives. In particular, direct guidance on how to sell online (livestream) and build booths on digital platforms will help businesses and cooperatives increase opportunities to connect and trade and boost the consumption of domestic products, contributing to promoting the development of the digital economy in rural agriculture in the locality.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/gia-lai-tang-co-hoi-tiep-can-thuong-mai-dien-tu-cho-doanh-nghiep-nho-va-vua-364475.html