Da Nang traditional market vendors struggle to livestream to sell goods

Want to livestream to sell products but…

Consumer shopping trends have shifted sharply from offline to online shopping since the Covid-19 pandemic. This has directly impacted small traders in traditional markets in Da Nang City, especially those in the clothing and footwear industry.

Retailer Tran Thi Thong (left) was instructed by VECOM in Da Nang to livestream to sell products.

To support small traders in selling on digital platforms to catch up with the inevitable trend, the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang in collaboration with the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) in Da Nang organized training on sales skills as well as support for small traders at Con market to sell via livestream (live broadcast). However, after more than 1 month of implementation, almost no small traders have implemented it.

Trader Tran Thi Thong (shoe stall, Kiot 66 - 68 Con market) said that she has joined sales groups on Zalo and has a sales account on TikTok. "I also want to join the TikTok platform to livestream sales so that my goods have more channels to circulate, and it is also a way to promote my stall and sales lot online so that tourists coming to Da Nang can come to me to buy goods," said Ms. Thong.

Retailer Tran Thi Thong: "Many times I post products for sale on Tiktok and then can't find them in any section."

But, partly because she is not used to talking on the phone; partly because she does not know how to use the features when selling online, Ms. Thong has not been able to do it herself. “In mid-July 2024, she was supported by VECOM in Da Nang to sell via livestream. She found it effective, but that was with support. If she did it herself, she would not be confident because it was her first time using technology,” Ms. Thong shared, adding that technology is a big difficulty that older traders like her encounter when they want to livestream. “The other day, I posted 10 products. After I finished, they were all gone. When I had free time, I also sat down to post but could not find it in any section,” Ms. Thong shared the situation she had experienced and said that she planned to livestream sales in the near future, but needed someone to support her and could not do it all by herself.

Retailer Hoang Thi Kim Anh (middle) practices livestreaming to sell products with the support of the livestream host.

Similarly, Ms. Hoang Thi Kim Anh (clothing stall, lot 63 - 65 Con market) also noticed that the number of customers coming to the market to buy directly has decreased significantly and the trend of online sales has developed. Therefore, 3 years ago, she practiced selling online through zalo groups, but mostly sold to regular customers. “Now I want to access more livestream sales channels to find and expand my customer base. But there are too many difficulties. Sales are unpredictable, sometimes there are few customers, sometimes there are many customers, I cannot proactively find the time to sell. Besides, I am still not used to consulting customers on products when selling livestream,” Ms. Kim Anh said and added: "Posting a shopping cart still has many steps. You have to take front and back pictures, record videos . Then you have to have enough product parameters such as color, elasticity, length, width, and which size is for which customer... If you sell directly and sell livestream at the same time, it will be difficult to do it."

Will support small businesses to get results

Mr. Vo Van Khanh - Head of VECOM in Da Nang said that in July 2024, VECOM organized many live livestreams at the stalls of small traders. In each live broadcast, there will be a host (the person standing live) and the small traders at that stall will directly participate in the live session to get familiar with the live format. In addition, VECOM coordinated with the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang to set up a consulting table at the market so that any small traders in need will have someone to support them. By the end of July 2024, VECOM and the Department will summarize the results and have a direction for implementation in the coming time.

Livestream sales are considered one of the solutions to help small businesses overcome the pressure of competition with new sales trends.

“We are trying to make the support for livestreaming merchants at Con Market effective and efficient. Currently, many markets in the city have contacted VECOM to support livestreaming merchants, but we have not accepted because we will see the results at Con Market to adjust for effectiveness before supporting other markets,” said a VECOM representative, adding that the unit does not provide mass support but focuses on supporting merchants who are ready to apply digital transformation to sales, with the goal that those who are “guided by hand” will successfully conduct livestreaming sales.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tru - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang City, organizing support for small traders to livestream sales contributes to promoting and introducing typical products at 04 class 1 markets (Con market, Han market, Dong Da market and Hoa Cuong wholesale market) and other traditional markets in Da Nang, attracting domestic and foreign customers to visit and shop at traditional markets; gradually removing difficulties in the face of competitive pressure with new sales trends. The pilot livestream sales at Con market also aims to promote the implementation of e-commerce applications, digital transformation in sales activities, support small traders at traditional markets to update knowledge, skills to adapt and apply e-commerce solutions, and create a pilot model to replicate in other traditional markets.

The trend of direct consumer shopping has decreased, causing many small traders at traditional markets in Da Nang City to fall into a situation of lack of customers.

“In the immediate future, the support for livestream sales will be piloted at Con Market to see how effective it is. In addition, the Department will promote support for this sales method for OCOP products, typical products of the city,” said Mr. Tru.

It is expected that at the East-West Economic Corridor Trade, Investment and Tourism Fair (taking place in August 2024), the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang City will continue to organize livestream activities to promote and sell OCOP products, typical commercial products of the city.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/tieu-thuong-cho-truyen-thong-da-nang-loay-hoay-livestream-ban-hang-333280.html