Handmade jewelry products are popular with many young people - Photo: TRUONG LINH
Many artisans and young people who love handicrafts have seen opportunities in the niche segment by turning uniqueness and creative stories into competitive advantages in the market.
Competing with emotions with 'Chinese' jewelry
No signboard, no product display store, but the brooches, wood-carved pendants, mother-of-pearl brooches and other horn jewelry products of Mr. Phan Nguyen Minh (Nha Be, Ho Chi Minh City) are loved and welcomed by many young people.
Mr. Nguyen Minh said that the jewelry products use 100% traditional materials such as mother-of-pearl, ebony, horn... but are meticulously crafted and come with a story told in a more youthful, trendy way, easily attracting young customers.
"Each handicraft product has its own story from design to manufacturing process. This approach is also a way to breathe life into each item and this is the highlight that attracts customers," Mr. Minh shared.
In the context of the mass jewelry market being "covered" by Chinese industrial products, with prices ranging from only 20,000 to 30,000 VND for a brooch, launching a handmade product priced at 150,000 or even 600,000 VND is clearly a challenge.
According to Mr. Minh, "no handicraft maker can compete with this price difference." But now the products are being positively received.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong (28 years old, Ho Chi Minh City), a collector of handmade jewelry, said she loves products with high artistic and personal value.
"Before, I used to use a lot of cheap jewelry, but it broke quickly and didn't keep my emotions for long. Now I'm willing to spend a few hundred thousand to buy a truly valuable handmade item that can be used for a long time and never goes out of style."
Ms. Truong Hong Minh (26 years old) also shares the same opinion. For her, handmade jewelry is a way to express her aesthetic sense and cultural understanding. "If the item is unique and not duplicated, I am willing to spend 500,000 VND or more," she said.
Although it accounts for only a small proportion of the entire jewelry industry, the handmade market is witnessing a remarkable revival.
On e-commerce platforms, it is not difficult to come across personal branded stalls, introducing products made from wood, mother-of-pearl inlay, copper, shells, pearls, and even handmade thread rolls.
Raw materials such as snail shells and pearl shells are used in the process of making handmade jewelry products - Photo: TRUONG LINH
Opportunity to export "identity" to the world
The trend toward personalization in consumption, especially in the accessories and fashion sector, is creating opportunities for independent artisans and craft brand founders to capture niche markets.
Handmade products are often accepted by customers at a higher price, even willing to wait several weeks to receive a "tailor-made" item for themselves. Many brands have taken advantage of the trend of personalized consumption to build their own ecosystem with a diverse customer base and relatively high demand.
Even videos or images of handmade jewelry products often receive high interaction and attention from young people.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Anh (35 years old), owner of the Tonkin Craft brand, said that with its unique handmade products, the company seeks to approach the market through social networking sites and e-commerce platforms.
Copper jewelry products, which are difficult to reach young people, reach new customers through social platforms with a younger, more approachable image.
"In addition, we change and adjust products to suit customer tastes. Thanks to this method, the number of orders has increased 4 times, even 5 times compared to normal revenue," Duc Anh shared.
Not only Duc Anh's store, the online store Mun Artisan of Nguyen Thi Minh Chau (23 years old) also chooses to optimize business costs by selling handmade jewelry products on social networking sites.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Chanh Phuong - Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Processing Association - said that today's youth is a very potential generation with two groups: creators and consumers. In which, creators understand the product well, spread the product to users and from there spread it further.
For artisans, handmade jewelry is not only a symbol of craftsmanship and patience, but also a bridge connecting tradition with modernity. If developed in the right direction, this could become an opportunity for the cultural industry to reach out internationally with its own unique identity and creative mark of Vietnam.
"The success of a handmade jewelry business is no longer measured by the number of exported containers, but by the ability to convey values, export Vietnamese identity and traditions to young people around the world," said Mr. Phuong.
Need to go slow and steady
Ms. Pham Thi Kim Hang - founder of the Limloop brand, a product brand that emphasizes recycling and sustainability - said there are two major difficulties in the process of operating a brand that sells handmade products with a creative stamp.
It is the limitation of supporting machinery to optimize product costs as well as access to consumer culture and habits.
According to Ms. Hang, the division of specific stages is to focus on certain business strategies. In the first stage, it is necessary to accept slow but steady steps to research products and explore the market, then aim to expand the market.
"In parallel with the stages, businesses can also be open to partnership models, collaborating to take advantage of each other's existing ecosystems to develop together," Ms. Hang added.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chi-tien-trieu-cho-trang-suc-thu-cong-20250607230505606.htm
Comment (0)