Buying foreign goods online: Vietnamese people spend a lot of money

Goods ordered online by Vietnamese customers on Chinese e-commerce platforms are shipped to Vietnam - Photo: BONG MAI

According to forecasts from Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, sales e-commerce Global retail is estimated to grow 39% in the coming years, expected to exceed 8,000 billion VND by 2027.

This excitement not only opens up great opportunities for domestic businesses to export their goods internationally, but also makes it easier for Vietnamese people to shop for foreign goods online.

Buy online teddy bears, instant noodles... from abroad

Being crazy about Jelly Cat teddy bears (UK), Thuy Anh (25 years old, HCMC) was very upset because she fell into a trap when she bought fake products sold by a stranger on Facebook.

"When I received the bear, I was suspicious because the fur was not smooth and the fabric label lines were not clear. I posted on the group to ask, many people confirmed that this was a fake product. I texted the seller to complain, but was immediately blocked," she said.

Loving teddy bears so much, for a whole week, Minh Anh spent time on the official website to hunt for her favorite model. Before that, she also went to the bank to get a credit card, making it convenient to pay. After more than 1.5 months of waiting, with the amount she had to pay more than 2.2 million VND (including shipping and tax), the teddy bear finally arrived in Vietnam.

Compared to the price advertised by many people in the country, Minh Anh had to pay about 700,000 VND more. "The good thing is that I'm sure it's genuine, it comes with the brand's cloth bag, if this bag was sold alone, there would still be buyers," Minh Anh said.

Since Taobao allowed direct shipping from China to Vietnam and allowed online ordering, Ms. Huong Giang (Binh Thanh) said she felt like she was falling into a state of "over-shopping, recklessly". Not only buying household appliances, hair curlers, handbags, clothes, she also bought hairpins, combs, instant noodles, vermicelli, spices...

The time to receive goods from China to Hanoi is about 4-5 days, more than a week for customers in Ho Chi Minh City, except for some cases with slower delivery times. For goods from the US, many Vietnamese consumers try to buy on Amazon.

Many other channels also focus on selling different product groups such as: cosmetics (Sephora, Macy's, Lookfantastic), fashion and footwear (Asos, Zalando, Farfetch), electronics (BestBuy, B&H), consumer goods (Walmart, Target)...

A series of international shopping platforms are being operated, helping Vietnamese customers to conveniently order online such as Fado (goods from the US, Japan, Germany, UK), Thuong Do, Pugo (goods from China)...

Buying agent services are booming

Every week, Ms. Thu Huong (Hanoi) posts on the following pages: social networks, advertising to customers about the purchasing service. As long as customers have a need, she is willing to buy on all websites in the US such as Amazon, Macy's, Jomashop... regardless of weekends or holidays.

"We have a website to track the shipping process of orders, so customers can rest assured that everything is transparent," Ms. Huong affirmed.

According to Ms. Huong, through the intermediary service, customers will receive the goods in just 7-10 days. Usually, customers order fashion products from brands such as Nike, Adidas, Coach, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste... and other products such as functional foods, candies, cosmetics...

Loving the spicy taste of Chinese instant noodles, Hoang Yen also used the service to buy five packs of noodles for her, with a total "loss" of 400,000 VND. "I don't know Chinese, so I had to ask someone to buy it for me," Yen said.

Because many international platforms do not support shipping to Vietnam or have limitations for certain products, and some sites require buyers to use domestic bank accounts (China, Korea...) for payment, many businesses have opened additional purchasing services to meet the large market demand.

For example, Viettel Post has implemented the feature of purchasing goods from e-commerce platform China's big players such as Taobao and 1688. EMS (Vietnam Post ) provides international express delivery services, supporting cross-border shopping. Other "giants" in the international shipping industry such as DHL, FedEx, Nasco Express, VietCargo... also joined the game.

Mr. Huynh Ho Dai Nghia, lecturer in the field of public policy and international relations at the University of Economics and Finance, Ho Chi Minh City, commented that the development of e-commerce will create favorable conditions for consumers in Vietnam to access a variety of goods from abroad, in line with the current trend of globalization of consumption.

"Experiencing international goods also helps raise people's understanding and expectations of product quality, indirectly creating positive pressure for domestic manufacturers to make efforts to improve and enhance quality and service," said Mr. Nghia.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/mua-hang-ngoai-online-nguoi-viet-manh-tay-chi-tien-3359125.html