Economic solutions for SMEs in the New Normal

Economic solutions for SMEs in the New Normal

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, especially those involved in cross-border trade, solving difficult logistics problems when participating in e-commerce is an effective solution. Being a pioneering technology-based and Internet development express delivery company, as well as owning shipping networks covering more than 200 countries and territories around the world, J&T Express provides effective support for SMEs to reach out to the world with e-commerce.

According to the seminar talks about Vietnam’s future digital economy, Vietnam’s e-commerce grew by 18 percent in 2020 to US$11.8 billion, the only country in Southeast Asia to record double-digit growth. In the event of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has become a “playground” for businesses to maintain business operations while ensuring pandemic prevention requirements.

In 2021, e-commerce is still a growing industry thanks to the coordination of policies from the Government and the solutions to support online business from logistics enterprises in the context of the pandemic, as well as the strong push of Industry 4.0. Besides the growth of domestic e-commerce, according to the Vietnam E-commerce Association, cross-border e-commerce has an increase of 25.7 percent compared to last year. Mr. Bui Huy Hoang, Deputy Director of the Center for Information and Digital Technology under the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that cross-border e-commerce will be an extremely effective channel for businesses to expand their markets, especially for Vietnamese goods. The national plan for e-commerce development in the 2021-2025 period aims to make e-commerce one of the pioneering areas of the digital economy to increase business efficiency, enhance the competitiveness of businesses, and promote the growth of domestic markets and export.

The Vietnam E-commerce White Book 2021 is built from a statistical survey with samples from more than 8,000 businesses and 1,000 consumers, of which SMEs account for 90 percent. This demonstrates that SMEs are the significant force that is primarily affected by changes and, conversely, has an impact on the development of e-commerce in Vietnam.

The booming of e-commerce offers many opportunities if SMEs adapt timely, but it also comes with many challenges such as the difficult problem of the goods delivery. According to the Vietnam E-commerce White Book 2021 (built from an official statistical survey in 2020 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade), when being asked about the reasons why consumers have problems while shopping online, 25 percent of the participants chose poor shipping and delivery. As for the business, the logistics investment costs reached 0.82 points on a scale of 0-2 in terms of challenges and obstacles when operating e-commerce websites/applications. Especially for SMEs in cross-border goods, logistics costs account for a large amount of the budget, which leads to a rise in cost and a loss of competitive advantage. In other words, the solutions at the logistics stage will effectively support SMEs to develop e-commerce.

During the period of social distancing, the logistics industry in general and the international shipping brand J&T Express in particular have shown their vital role in the economy: supporting enterprises to export goods and delivering goods for domestic markets. The timely change of the Government’s policy from "Zero COVID" to "Safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic” since the outbreak of the fourth wave has created opportunities for businesses to reopen, e-commerce continues to develop, and logistics is an indispensable part of this strong recovery and growth process.

As a technology-based and internet development express delivery company, J&T Express has been contributing to opening up many opportunities for businesses seeking production opportunities and business efficiency. Moreover, J&T Express strengthens to support for export promotion for SMEs through e-commerce by international freight routes as a post-pandemic solution. With the shipping routes to more than 200 countries and territories, J&T Express' international delivery service satisfies the needs of Convenience - home pick up, home delivery; Tracking system – Easily track by app or website and Delivery time – fast and optimal.

Mr. Phan Binh – Brand Director of J&T Express Vietnam, said, “Being developed and operated based on international technology and management system, J&T Express constantly improves its processes, technology, and qualified human resources in express delivery to help business partners optimize their business operations. For the Vietnamese market, J&T Express has covered 63 cities and provinces from rural and mountainous areas to cities. The expansion of international routes of J&T Express is one of the strategic solutions invested in the long-term to expand the network to help SMEs approach customers around the world, bringing many business opportunities for these enterprises, and contributing to the Vietnam’s economic development.”

VietNam Economic News