Craft village products 'on the market': Breakthrough opportunity from e-commerce

Traditional handicraft products have good access to e-commerce channels, but to spread more strongly, craft villages still need to overcome many barriers in digital skills and supporting infrastructure.

The trend of breaking out from "going public"

In recent years, the explosive growth of e-commerce has opened up great opportunities for Vietnamese craft products to reach the market. According to some assessments, the Vietnamese e-commerce market is currently among the fastest growing in Southeast Asia, reaching more than 20 billion USD in 2024. With its rich cultural, artisanal, and environmentally friendly characteristics, Vietnamese handicraft products have a rare advantage in conquering new customers.

Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong, Van Phuc Silk Weaving Village Association, shared that consumers increasingly like handmade products with cultural stories behind them. Van Phuc Silk has that advantage, but they just don't know how to fully exploit it in the digital environment. According to her, putting products on e-commerce platforms is not only to sell but also to affirm the brand and preserve cultural values.

E-commerce is not only a consumption channel but also a channel to preserve the traditional culture of craft villages. Photo: Can Dung

Bat Trang is also a clear example where e-commerce has become an important consumption channel. Mr. Dang Dinh Tuc, Representative Board of Giang Cao - Bat Trang Pottery Village said: " About 60% of establishments have used social networks to sell goods, 20% have joined e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Alibaba, Amazon. Some units even livestream across borders" .

It can be seen that online sales have become the right direction for craft villages that want to survive in the digital economy. Not only that, support programs from management agencies, such as the "100,000 small and medium enterprises digital transformation" program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade , or online skills training courses, are considered "leverage" for production households to confidently step into the big market.

Although selling via e-commerce is confirmed to be the right trend for craft villages, the reality shows that selling via “digital channels” is still a big challenge. Ms. Phuong acknowledged that competition with Thai, Chinese, and Indian silk is very fierce. Without a strong brand, it is easy to lose customers to cheap goods.

Meanwhile, building product images requires professional digital techniques: Photography, design, product data optimization, livestream, order processing...

Bat Trang also faces similar problems. Mr. Tuc pointed out the reality that most small-scale production households lack specialized e-commerce human resources. Weak digital skills, unsynchronized network connections, and loose internal connections make it difficult for us to form an online value chain.

Not only that, logistics and international payments are still major bottlenecks. Handicrafts are often bulky and fragile, and shipping costs have increased sharply, making export prices less competitive.

Mr. Pham Nhu Thanh, Deputy Director of the Institute for Research on Environmental Applications of Vietnamese Craft Village Products, affirmed: “ E-commerce is an inevitable trend. But without a supporting ecosystem, craft villages will forever struggle at the experience level and cannot break through .”

Need for brand strategy and digital ecosystem

For e-commerce to truly become a driving force for development, craft villages need to shift from the mindset of "do first - think later" to a more systematic approach. With Van Phuc silk village, Ms. Phuong proposed that it is necessary to build a common brand "Van Phuc Silk" on a digital platform, with QR codes to trace the origin and accompanying cultural stories; establish a "Craft Village Digital Space" with integrated booths, virtual tourism maps, and production videos ; link with technology startups to form a complete digital value chain.

Bat Trang also considers a similar model when building a common e-commerce portal with brand identity standards; establishing a center to support the digital transformation of craft villages; attaching QR codes and OCOP standards to each product; and organizing an annual online ceramic fair.

From the perspective of technology enterprises, Mr. Le Anh Xuan - Director of Seapics International Joint Stock Company emphasized the role of connection: " We must build a digital ecosystem for Vietnamese craft villages coordinated by the Association, supported by the State with policies, and technology enterprises taking care of infrastructure and e-commerce solutions ." He also proposed promoting virtual fairs, video marketing, connecting Amazon Handmade and Alibaba to bring Vietnamese handicrafts to the world.

It can be seen that e-commerce is not a replacement, but a new way to preserve and promote traditional values. As shared by the Deputy Director of the Institute for Environmental Research and Application of Vietnamese Craft Village Products, applying 4.0 technology does not destroy the traditional identity, but helps Vietnamese products shine with their true value.

Therefore, e-commerce needs to be seen as a sustainable development strategy, where each product sold is a cultural story spread, each exported order is a message about the ingenuity and creativity of Vietnamese people.

Some businesses have been quick to grasp the trend of selling via e-commerce, but to make it an effective trend, craft villages need more companionship and support.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/san-pham-lang-nghe-len-san-co-hoi-but-pha-tu-thuong-mai-dien-tu-432554.html