Amazon, channel for Vietnam’s apparel to enter EU

Amazon, leading online shopping channel, has the potential to become a window for Vietnamese textile and garment products to gain access to European Union market. This was stated in Hanoi at a seminar, organised by Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association. Vietnamese businesses got advice on e-commerce by experts from Germany’s Vorwarts company at the event.

Vorwarts CEO André M. Åslund said the quality of Vietnam’s garment products satisfied EU consumers. Many enterprises in Vietnam and Asia were selling their products to the EU via intermediaries or outlets. However, if products are sold on Amazon, intermediaries will not be needed, leading to reduction in cost and improvement in Vietnamese apparel’s competitiveness in EU markets, according to Vietnamese media reports.

Up to 76 per cent of consumers use mobile phones to shop online, and 50 per cent of mobile phone users shop via Amazon, Åslund said.

Noting that consumers’ behaviours were changing, he said instead of solely depending on products’ prestige, their interest and trust were now also framed by other factors such as product review and description, and other consumers’ assessment, the reports said.

Therefore, businesses should pay more attention to quality information provision and product quality to get good assessments. Those evaluations will encourage EU consumers to buy Vietnamese products, Åslund said.

However, businesses must comply with regulations of EU markets and improve product design to meet consumers’ taste. Once consumers are satisfied, they will introduce products to others, he said.